"My mother had a premonition from the very word 'GO.' She knew there was
something to be afraid of and the only thing that she felt strongly about was
that to say a ship was unsinkable was flying in the face of God. Those were her
words." -Eva Hart, Titanic Survivor
To anyone who has known me for even a brief moment, it’s unlikely you don’t know my strange obsession with the Titanic. From childhood, long before Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio brought Her to life, She has been a fascinating topic of which I have devoured numerous accounts of Her discovery, recovery, survivors, and victims.
I’ve seen what has survived in museums, and those who didn’t in cemeteries. I’ve watched movies and documentaries, and lost myself in the sometimes conflicting accounts of Her existence.
How can I put my fascination into words? When I found the quote from Eva Hart, I
knew. My love of the Titanic is somewhat based on a love story, but the symbolism of Her life which has me mesmerized – is the very symbol of the fragility and arrogance of the human race.
There were innocent lives lost in the face of human arrogance; a fact that I never intend to devalue in my assessment. It is not those lives I blame – nor do I intend to place blame on any which many already blame for Her demise. The fact is that many built Her up to be something so strong “even God Himself couldn’t sink.” The media, the engineers, the construction crew, the management – all condemned Her and those aboard Her with the word ‘unsinkable.’ She was built to defy nature and to defy the God who created those who created Her.
How often does history repeat itself? Didn’t Eve allow Satan to deceive her into
thinking God wouldn’t take her life? Wasn’t almost all of humanity wiped from the earth save a few handpicked by Him aboard an Ark? Didn’t an innocent man die at the demand of the masses because He seemingly went against God’s laws – which were written by men who were twisting His words? Because the crowd was uninformed, didn’t understand, or didn’t want to? Our arrogance as a race takes us back to the garden and repeats, over and over, throughout history.
And continues beyond the death of the RMS Titanic. But She sank at the feet of the Father – because men said She couldn’t.
Our God isn’t vengeful, nor can He be called mean. It can be argued that He caused Her sinking because, after all, the earth is His creation. But the earth is now Satan’s domain, as noted in Job. God allows Satan access to humanity, but God still controls Satan's access to us. It remains that our choices are those which condemn us – free will, which a merciful and loving God allows.
Many of those who deemed Her unsinkable no doubt faced certain humility as they watched and felt her sink. How many hearts went out to those who faced an innocent death – because of the decisions of a few and the declarations of many?
Wasn’t that what happened at the cross?
The Titanic story will be repeated. I’m sure it has been in recent history and perhaps just not touched me like Her fate and the fate of Her passengers did. Perhaps other
situations exist which bring to light the same realizations to others. My heart goes out to those who lost their lives, wishing history had been different for them.
The same is true for Jesus.
I wish He hadn’t had to die for my arrogance. My sin. My foolishness. But He did.
And I’m forgiven.
We have no survivors of Titanic left on this planet to share Her story. Fortunately, we have Jesus who conquered death for us many years before so we can be around to retell Her story.
And His.
.JPG)
