Two Titanic's

I have seen the movie 'Titanic' twice in one week. I saw the newer version on Sunday and the 1953 version today. I never saw them before. I've been deeply affected by the lifeboat scenes.

The lifeboat existed for the saving of lives. The very salvation of some lives meant the destruction of other lives. The boats had to move far enough away from the stricken Titanic in order not to be sucked down by the vortex created by the sinking ship.  Yet, they had to stay close enough to rescue the survivors swimming in the water.

Those in the lifeboat who were rescued wanted to return to rescue others. But the captain of their boat told them that the people in the water were so desperate that if they came to rescue them, they would swarm the boats, and the boat would capsize, killing them all. They listened to the cries of the survivors weaken and stayed safely in their lifeboats, knowing that their captain spoke the truth.

One lifeboat captain found another way. He moved his boat up against another lifeboat, and tied them together. He had those in his boat calmly move over into the other lifeboat. Then he and another man went back to look for survivors. They were too late for most of the 1500 bodies floating frozenly in the icy salt water. But they did save six people. Some of us might not even be here if they had not saved one of those six.
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It is important to rescue the perishing. It is also important to protect the rescued, especially if they are weak. We cannot send those vulnerable to drowning out to rescue the desperately drowning. They both will drown.

But we can be like the wise captain, who first moved his weak rescued people to safety, and using the tools of his trade-a search light and a megaphone, found those who were still holding on to life, hoping that he'd come.