It’s just before midnight on the 14th April 1912, you are in mid-Atlantic and the world’s largest, unsinkable ship is sinking. Imagine that you were a man (the odds were far more highly stacked against them, unless you were in 3rd Class, where it was equally hopeless) and it had just dawned on you that there were not enough lifeboats on the Titanic - what would you do? What would be your thought-processes?
I hope my HP friends will find the following two accounts of Titanic survivors an inspiring and welcome change from some of the hype going around at the moment.
The first is by Charles Herbert Lightoller, the senior surviving officer of the Titanic, a man of determination, courage and faith. In a tragedy of such horrific proportion that came out of unbelievable carelessness and arrogance, the fact that at least a tiny group of men survived against the odds, being in the icy water, standing all night on a sinking, up-turned lifeboat, is heartening among so much horror.
' Lights' was modest about his role in helping others to survive and he has been criticised for his rigid observance of, “women and children first”, but Colonel Gracie, a US Army Officer and fellow Titanic survivor on the upturned boat, said:
“For what he did on the ship that night whereby six or more boatloads of women and children were saved and discipline maintained aboard ship, as well as on the Engelhardt upturned boat, [the lifeboat on which he subsequently saved the lives of nearly 30 men] he is entitled to honor and the thanks of his own countrymen and of us Americans as well.”
And the Titanic sinking was not the last time that he helped others survive against the odds either! During World War I, he was commander of a squadron of four destroyers, guarding the North Sea convoys from U-boat attack. During one spell, he escorted six consecutive convoys averaging 40 ships each with only one loss. Another time, he was lost in fog, with another ship tailing his and they sailed right through a mine-field, untouched.
(He also survived 4 shipwrecks in his long sea-faring life, a fire at sea, a near-drowning and frostbite and starvation while taking part in the Yukon Gold Rush – his is an amazing story!)
On June 1st 1940, at the age of 66, he set out with his eldest son Roger and a young sea scout to rescue as many stranded soldiers as he could from Dunkirk. Under heavy fire all the way and back, being dive-bombed by enemy aircraft and dodging mines, he succeeded in saving the lives of 127 men in a boat he'd previously only managed to squeeze 21 in before.. The Sundowner came back without even a scratch. Lightoller’s nickname was "Lucky Lights". But it wasn’t luck…..
More below….
"If a man were drowning in mid ocean..."
If a man were drowning in mid-ocean with apparently no human help at hand, there is a law of God which, when rightly appealed to, would bring about his rescue. Does the reader doubt this? Then he must believe that it is possible for man to find himself in a condition where God cannot help him.
[url]GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT*/*The Christian Science Journal[/url] by Adam Dickey
As you read his own Titanic account below, notice how Lightoller prayed:
1.He first got rid of fear. Fear is duality, believing that we are separate from God, good, believing that God is absent and impotent. That is the opposite of the truth.
2. He believed with absolute trust and conviction that "with God all things are possible".
Lightoller begins his October 1912 account of his experience with these words:
“It is difficult to tell of the experience which follows...”
And here are some excerpts from a shortened 1997 reprint:
While the Titanic was sinking, and during the whole time I was working at [loading passengers into] the [life]boats, I held to the truth, thereby eliminating all fear. I do not pretend that any man can go down on a ship at midnight, in mid-Atlantic, and succeed in eliminating fear, without hard work...
...I faced forward and walked into the water. The sudden immersion in this penetratingly cold water for a few seconds overcame all thought, and ... almost immediately I found myself drawn with great force against the grating covering the mouth of the forward blower, a huge ventilator leading down to the forward stokehold. In this position I went below the surface with the ship...
...It was at this moment that I was drawn into the water, still realizing the truth, and while I was below the surface these words from the [ninety-first] Psalm came to me so distinctly that I seemed to realize their full import: "He shall give his angels charge over thee."
You can read what happened next here: [url]The night the Titanic sank*/*Christian Science Sentinel[/url]
You may also find it interesting to listen to Lightoller talk about the sinking of the Titanic on this 1930’s archive recording by the BBC: [url]BBC - Archive - Survivors of the Titanic - I Was There | Commander CH Lightoller[/url]
The confidence to think differently from the crowd...
The other Titanic survivor whose testimony I have, was Lawrence Beesley, a passenger. His experience was no-way so dramatic as Lightoller’s, but both Lightoller and Beesley were men with a deep faith and trust in God, taking very seriously Jesus’ words, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:36) and in their time of great need, they both turned in prayer to the Psalm of Protection, the 91st Psalm.
Beesley was saved through quiet prayer and listening and being in the right place at the right time. He was also very clear about the efficacy of a right understanding of the laws of God. He came from a background in the sciences and when he was first introduced to the teachings of Christian Science, decided he was not going to just accept it, without evidence of proof. He wrote that he was satisfied that it was "not a mere theory, but a statement of definite, unchangeable law, which is susceptible of proof at any time and in any place, and which in its application has been at tended by entirely satisfactory and successful results in the exact proportion to my faithfulness in obeying the law."
In the article "God's Law of Adjustment" that I linked to at the beginning of this thread, its author, Adam Dickey quotes Paul’s words from Romans 8: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
And he asks:
“Why? Because all the power there is, is on the side of the law of Life, and that which is opposed to this law of Life is not law at all; it is only belief. In other words, every law of God has behind it infinite power to enforce it, while the so-called law of sin and death has no foundation, has nothing back of it that it can depend upon.”
Then he goes on:
“When we understandingly declare that the law of God is present and is in operation, we have invoked or brought into action the whole law and the power of God. We have declared the truth, God’s truth – and that truth of God is the law of annihilation, obliteration, and elimination to everything that is unlike Him. When we have stated this truth, and applied it, as taught in Christian Science, to any discordant belief with which we are confronted, we have done all that we can do and all that is necessary for us to do in the destruction of any manifestation of error that ever claimed to exist. Error, which has no place in the divine Mind, claims to exist in human thought. When we have put it out of human thought, we have driven it out of the only place where it ever pretended to have a foothold, and thereafter to us it becomes nothing..”
Now here are some of Beesley's own words about his Titanic experience
...At the first sign of danger, after the collision occurred, I went to my cabin and read the ninety-first psalm through carefully three times. I had just turned from this study to the interpretation of the twenty-third psalm as given in Science and Health [With Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy] (p. 578), beginning, "[Divine Love] is my shepherd," when the final call on deck was made. I put the Bible and Science and Health in my pockets and responded to the call…
In this mental condition I was able to remain quietly in the position where I first placed myself, on the starboard side, and watch the boats, which had been lowered to the deck below, fill with the women and children collected there, descend to the sea, and row away into the darkness. While doing so, a rumor went around among the men on the top deck that they would be taken off on the port side, and although subsequent events proved it had no official origin, this report seemed at the time to be authentic, and was accordingly acted upon by nearly every one. But it seemed more in harmony with the spiritual sense of the ninety-first psalm, more in tune with the teaching of Christian Science, to "be still, and know that I am God," to avoid the crowd and remain quietly on the starboard side until some opportunity of escape presented itself.
Some little time later there were repeated calls for women on the deck below, where the boats were being filled, and looking over the edge of the top deck I saw a life-boat almost full. No more women were to be found, and one of the crew, seeing me looking over, first inquired if any women were to be found on the top deck, and on my replying that they had all been sent down half an hour before, he told me to jump in.
by Lawrence BeesleyChristian Science Sentinel 20th December 1912
A friend sent me this link to an article written by Beesley’s grandson this week, in the New York Times, he is obviously very grateful that his grandfather was quiet and listened and ignored the rumour to rush over to Lightoller’s side (where the only men allowed into the lifeboats were crewmen). He ends his piece with these words, after musing about the reason his grandfather stayed put, which really sums up the reason I’ve posted this thread:
“In any event, I owe my existence to the fact that in those few critical moments he had the confidence to think differently from the crowd.” Nicholas Wade
Love and peace,
Judy
An excellent article Judy
Hello I'm back at last! 😉
During the 100th anniversary, there was a good programme on the Beeb where various actors read out the personal accounts of Titanic survivors. I found the memories of Colonel Archibald Gracie very moving. His experience quite closely echoed Lightoller's above. In fact, Gracie helped find ladies to load in the lifeboats for him, also was sucked under water and also ended up on the upturned lifeboat B.
I found it very moving listening to Mrs Gracie's experience that night. I bought the book, The truth about the Titanic that Gracie wrote, and have finally found time to copy out some of the bits about that night for you, plus another bit of an interview he gave to a newspaper:
From a dockside interview by the Daily Telegraph
"After sinking with the ship, it appeared to me as if I was propelled by some great force through the water. This might have been occasioned by explosions under the water, and I remembered fearful stories of people being boiled to death. Again and again I prayed for deliverance, although I felt sure that the end had come. I had the greatest difficulty in holding my breath until I came to the surface. I knew that once I inhaled, the water would suffocate me. When I got under water I struck out with all my strength for the surface. I got to air again after a time, which seemed to me to be unending...."
From “The truth about the Titanic” Pages 59/60
It is eminently fitting, in gratitude to my Maker, that I should make the acknowledgement that I know of no recorded instance of Providential deliverance more directly attributable to cause and effect, illustrating the efficacy of prayer and how, “God helps those who help themselves.” I should have courted the fate of many hundreds of others had I supinely made no efforts to supplement my prayers with all the strength and power which He has granted to me. While I said to myself, “Goodbye to all at home” I hoped and prayed for escape. My mind was nerved to do the duty of the moment, and my muscles seemed to have hardened in preparation for any struggle that might come.
With renewed determination and set jaws, I swam on. Just at the moment I thought that for the lack of breath I would have to give in, I seemed to have been provided with a second wind, and it was just then that the thought that this was my last moment came upon me. I wanted to convey the news of how I died to my loved ones at home. As I swam beneath the surface of the ocean, I prayed that my spirit could go to them and say, “Goodbye, until we meet again in heaven.” In this connection, the thought was in my mind or a well-authenticated experience of mental telepathy that occurred to a member of my wife’s family. Here in my case was a similar experience of a ship wrecked loved one, and I thought if I prayed hard enough that this, my last wish to communicate with my wife and daughter, might be granted.
To what extent my prayer was answered let Mrs Gracie describe in her own written words, as follows: “I was in my room at my sister’s house, where I was visiting, in New York. After retiring, being unable to rest I questioned myself several times over, wondering what it was that prevented the customary long and peaceful slumber, lately enjoyed. “What is the matter?” I uttered. A voice in reply seemed to say, “On your knees and pray.” Instantly, I literally obeyed with my prayer book in my hand, which by chance opened at the prayer, “For those at sea.” The thought then flashed through my mind, “Archie is praying for me.” I continued wide awake until just before 5 a.m., by the watch that lay beside me. About 7 a.m. I dozed a while and then got up to dress for breakfast……
But let me now resume my personal narrative. With this second wind under water there came to me a new lease of life and strength, until finally I noticed by the increase of light that I was drawing near to the surface…..
Protection, prayer and dolphins
If a man were drowning in mid-ocean with apparently no human help at hand, there is a law of God which, when rightly appealed to, would bring about his rescue. Does the reader doubt this? Then he must believe that it is possible for man to find himself in a condition where God cannot help him.
[url]GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT*/*The Christian Science Journal[/url]
January 1916 by Adam Dickey
Back in 2005, there was an email that went around the world, shared by Christian Science friends, describing a most wonderful rescue at sea and then the overcoming of the effects of being in cold, jelly fish and shark-infested water for more than 24 hours. I have always hoped that the family would share this proof of divine Love's omnipotence and ever-presence with the world – perhaps write a book, but as far as I’m aware, that hasn’t happened yet. However, a friend found this testimony on the internet, so as it is in the public domain, I’m so glad to be able to share it.
I couldn’t decide whether to put it on the “Healing through the Christ Consciousness” thread; start a new thread on protection; or add it here but here it is, though it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Titanic!
Saved at Sea
[url]Christian healing: June 2005[/url]
Just wanted to explain a little bit here - this is the young man's mother:
But, around 2:00 a.m. I was awakened with an overpowering sense of danger concerning our son. I immediately drove to his apartment, but found he was not home. I returned to my home, and my husband and I worked with the lesson until dawn. It became very clear to me to check the boat which we docked at a local marina.
We found our son's motorcycle at our boat slip, and the boat was indeed gone. We were told by a marina employee that our son was seen leaving in the boat the day before about 12:30 p.m.
Where she says "I worked with the lesson until dawn" - all around the word, students of Christian Science daily study a Bible Lesson, that forms the sermon at our Sunday church services. "Work" in this context means deep study and scientific prayer, based on divine law, not blind faith.