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Titanic - Nearer my God to Thee: Be the best you can be! (Mt5:48)

by Teresa O'Driscoll
http://teresaodriscoll.co.uk

I was making tracks for bed on Saturday night around midnight (yes, I am a night owl) when I decided to put the radio on for a few minutes for a change of pace. But the programme I had quite by chance tuned into held me captive until 2.20 am precisely. Called Titanic, Minute by Minute, it tracked the tragic events of the sinking of the ship as they had unfolded exactly one hundred years ago to the minute on 15^th April.

It was gripping broadcasting – saddening, very much so, yet also, through the various acts of heroism uncovered, inspiring too. There were so very many acts of bravery that night. Many sacrificed their lives that others might live, which reminded me of what Jesus said: “Greater love no man hath, than that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13)

For me, the quote that stands out from that night concerned a rich man who chose to stay on board and perish when he could have used his influence to escape by lifeboat. He took off his lifejacket, put on his top hat and said that he would die dressed as a gentleman. He then sent this message to his wife via a steward: “No woman will remain aboard this ship in the place of Ben Guggenheim.” Now that is a hero!

Yet, the greatest hero of all time remains…Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who gave His life that we may be saved...eternally. “…while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)

As the Titanic took on water and started to sink, the selfless group of musicians on board kept right on playing. Witnesses said that the last piece they played before leaping to their death in the freezing ocean was the hymn, Nearer My God to Thee. (Music by Lowell Mason 1792-1872, words by Sarah F. Adams 1805-1848.) In memory of this, the radio programme had musicians play this live as a singer sang the poignant words:

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,

still all my song shall be,

nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

darkness be over me, my rest a stone;

yet in my dreams I'd be

nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;

all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;

angels to beckon me

nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise,

out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;

so by my woes to be

nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,

sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,

still all my song shall be,

nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

At 2:20 am on 15^th April 1912 the ship disappeared beneath the waves and the death toll amounted to around 1,500 people (exact numbers conflict). At 2:20 am on 15^th April 2012 the programme came to an end. I switched off the radio, got to my knees and prayed for the souls of those who had died that night, and for their relatives who still live on. And for everyone who mourns that they may be comforted. “God Himself will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more…” (Rev 21:3-4)

Article submitted Monday, April 16, 2012 & read 652 times.

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