At Seattle’s Boeing Field, brand new commercial jets are put through their paces.[i] During test flights in 2004, Boeing discovered serious problems in several new planes. Mechanics found glass beads destroying the inside of the engines. The beads, about the size of sugar granules, wrecked the engines beyond repair.
Officials set out to determine the source of the droplets. Eventually, their investigation led them to a runway. New reflective lines had just been painted on the airstrip. The paint contained small glass beads which reflected light. But the paint was defective. On one patch of paint, the beads granules were separating from the paint. As the plane engines increased thrust and passed this patch, they sucked up these granules. The result was fifty million dollars of damage.
Sometimes it is the tiny threats which cause some of the greatest harm. This is especially true in our spiritual life.
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[i] Dominic Gates, Seattle Times (12-18-04).
