LEADING YOU HOME

In the movie "Apollo 13," astronaut Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) is interviewed by a reporter prior to launch. He asks if Lovell has ever been in a tight situation.

Lovell responds that once, as a Navy pilot in a wartime situation, his plane's instrument panel had been shot up. It was a pitch black night, no moon and the sea was dark as he was flying back to his carrier. The ship's lights would be out because of the wartime situation and he was scared. He had no idea how he was going to find his ship.

Jim Lovell, flying over a very dark ocean, noticed a faint trail of phosphorescence in the water below. If his situation had not been so desperate, he might not have noticed that faint light. It was the churned wake of his ship, and it led him home.