Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. – Proverbs 29:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 12, 2016): Proverbs 29

Cyril Evans was working in the telegraph room of the SS Californian on the night of April 14, 1912, when his Captain, Stanley Lord, entered the room. Lord informed the wireless operator that the ship had stopped for the night because of ice in the vicinity and ordered the Evans to put out an open call to any ships in the area. Lord had seen a ship on the horizon and was worried about the ship’s fate if it continued to power through the night. Not far away, Jack Phillips was busily working the wireless system of his ship trying to get personal messages sorted out and sent to the various first class passengers aboard his ship. Because Evans and the Californian were so close, and Phillips had his wireless set turned up to the highest possible volume, Evans message was deafening to Phillips. Phillips angrily sent off his reply to Evans – “I’m busy, get off the airwaves.” Evans felt that he had acted as his Captain had asked, and so he complied with Phillips order. He listened to the airwaves for a while longer and then went to bed.

Philip’s ship was the ship that Stanley Lord had seen on the horizon. So the Californian attempted to send the same message, “ice in the area” via Morse code using its signal lights. But that communication also went unanswered and unheeded. About an hour after the wireless message and a half hour after the message had been put out to Phillips’ ship via the signal lights, Phillips ship hit ice and began to sink. Of course, Phillips’ ship was the RMS Titanic.

While the Titanic either did not understand the danger or had chosen to ignore the warning, there is also a twist to the story on the side of the Californian. While the Californian was in visual contact with the Titanic, the Californian did not seem to understand that the Titanic was sinking. The Titanic fired off rockets which the Californian saw but chose to ignore because they did not understand the importance of the message being sent. At a later inquiry, it was believed that had the Californian turned to render aid to the Titanic, most of the passengers aboard the doomed ship might have been saved. Communication was attempted and missed on both sides of the equation – and the result was a tragedy.

The story of the Titanic and the Californian remains a poignant illustration of this proverb. An unheeded warning can result in destruction. And missed communication is simply dangerous. I am disturbed by those who sincerely believe that the only way to learn is through experience and, therefore, warnings have little value. The idea seems short-sighted. Sixteen hundred people did not have to die aboard the Titanic just to prove that there is no such thing as an “unsinkable ship.” And a warning was present on the night of April 14, 1912, that could have stopped the tragedy if only someone had taken the warning seriously.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 30