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Archive for August, 2010

On a frigid Sunday night in 1912 the Titanic came to the end of its ill-fated voyage. The ship that “God Himself couldn’t sink” was fatally wounded after colliding with an iceberg.

Onboard were John Harper and his daughter. After ensuring his child was safe in a lifeboat, Harper went back on deck to help others board the rafts to safety. He called out, “Women and children and the unsaved into the lifeboats first.”

In a final heroic act he gave his lifejacket to another passenger, then descended into the icy water. Sometime later a survivor floating in the ocean passed by Harper who called out, “Are you saved?”

When the man said he didn’t believe in God, Harper shared, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.” The men then drifted out of one another’s sight.

Later they floated by one another again. Harper called out, “Are you saved now?” The man again replied that he didn’t believe in God. Harper said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

These were Harper’s final words before he slipped beneath the ocean’s surface and passed into eternity.

We know the story because the other man survived, later being picked up by a lifeboat. He would share, “Shortly after he went down, and there, alone in the night with two miles of water under me, I believed.”

It was Nelson Mandela who powerfully shared, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?

“You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

“It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

The greatness Mandela spoke of resided in John Harper, whose selfless acts are truly inspirational. In like manner, that same greatness dwells in you and me as children of God. So let us not play small; may we instead let our light shine brightly as a beacon of hope to all we come in contact with.

Jesus said that some of the most heroic acts are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and caring for the lonely. We can all make a difference in big and small ways. It just takes living with love, hope and an unsinkable faith.