How to Survive on a Desert Island

If I fall on a desert island with other survivals on the plane, I will take it as an obstacle arranged by God. As the leader, I will take the responsibility of organizing others to get through this obstacle, just like Mose led Israeli people out of Egypt. First, in order to survive on a desert island, we must hold the belief of survival and keep the faith to God. It is humans’ natural reactions to go panic and desperate in front of death. Thus, as the leader of the team, I need to calm myself down first and gather all survivals together. Then I will give them a speech and encourage them to take this obstacle as a test of God. We should not feel desperate because we are left on a desert island and meet great challenges in order to survive. Instead, we should be grateful that God saves us from a falling plane and give us the second chance of life. As long as we hold our faith firmly, God will send angels to save us. Before God decides to save us from this island, we need to work together and pass the test of God. Though there might be people from different races and different religions, God will accept them as long as they decide to believe in God now. Or maybe we make mistakes and hurt others, so God intends to punish us and gives us an opportunity to refresh ourselves and make up for the guilt we have ever made. Though we may not know each other before, but from this moment on, we should treat each other as brothers and sisters, because God loves His people and encourages His people to love each other. Thus, we should take this experience as the test of God and appreciate God for giving us another chance of life and another chance to atone for our sins. Now we cut connections from the modern society and have to rely on our hands for survival, just like Adam and Eve relied on their own efforts to survive after they were abandoned out of the Garden of Eden. God punished them for their sins, so this was also God’s punishment to us. This is our opportunity to reflect on our faults, confess for our mistakes, and refresh our lives. But we should believe that God still loves us for saving us from the accident and giving us the chance to restart. As long as we pray to God every day and hold firmly on our faith to God, God will forgive us and save us out of this desert island.

After comforting all the survivals by the faith of God, then come some practical problems. People from different countries may speak different languages and have different habits, which will cause difficulties in communications and mutual understandings. In order to avoid the convenience caused by languages, we should ask every survival the language that he/she is able of speaking and separate all survivals into several groups to make sure that there are enough people in each group that could translate for others. English is defined as the basic language for communication and those survivals who cannot speak English should be arranged to learn this language. And for a better understanding, all survivals should live together and share their different habits. There should be a meeting for all survivals to sit together and explain any possible misunderstanding. If we want to work together, we must be honest and open with each other, especially in this severe situation. No matter what the background we may have before the accident, we are all equal now. We share the same fear of death, pain of loss, and hope from God. This common feeling and emotion may be the best support for us to cross the boundary of languages and cultures. A smile may explain everything and be the best support. So it is crucial for all survivals to understand each other and support each other as soon as possible.

Like any organization, tribe, and society in the world, there must be rules and laws to maintain the daily operation. All survivals, as a special society, should also be organized under certain regulations and rules, especially under this difficult situation. After collecting all the staff we could use from the falling plane, it is essential to assign each other’s duty in this special society. By the communication, we should first understand what each person is capable of and find out if there is any doctor, hunter, farmer, or fisherman. The doctor will be in charge of everybody’s health and teach people how to nurse the hurt. The hunter could lead several strong men to hunt animals for food. The fisherman could lead several men to fish near the seaside. The farmer could lead several women to collect fruits and try to plant them. The rest women will take care of patients, cook, and look after children. The rest men will protect women and collect woods. All the water and food should be gathered together and guarded by honest people. Every person should take his/her duty and work together like a big family. If anyone fights, steals food or water or damages public property on purpose, that person will be punished by more labor work or less food and water. People must remember the several sins of Catholics: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Any violation of these sins should be punished to maintain our faith in God and show our determination of redemption. And all the food and water should be distributed based on the contribution each person has made to the group and the urgency of the need. Patients and children should have the priority to have the food and water. People with heavy labor requirements and big harvest should follow next. The rest should enjoy the food and water equally. Each person must take the group’s interest before the individual interest, embracing the spirit of sacrifice and selflessness of the Catholic. People enjoying more food and water should take more responsibilities in the group of others’ lives. The distribution of food and water should be based on trust and responsibilities.