Is there room in your boat for one more ?

I think one of the best messages that I have heard, or at least one that has stuck with me the most was one from Sam a couple years back.. it was about our need to make room in our lives to help those around us... he used the example of the Titanic.

With a capacity of 65, No. 6 was launched with only 23 on board. Put in charge of No. 6 was Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the wheel of the Titanic itself at the moment of impact. Also on board this lifeboat was lookout Frederick Fleet, the man who first sighted the iceberg, and made the infamous call screaming, "Iceberg, right ahead!" The lifeboat was loaded and launched from the port side of the ship at 12:55 a.m.

Once the Titanic sank, it became apparent that Quartermaster Robert Hichens felt he had full control of the boat. While manning the tiller, he constantly beat back attempts by those on the boat who suggested they return to pick up survivors, saying they would only find "stiffs". He also yelled at the rowers, saying they would be drifting for days. After rudely refusing to let women row, Molly Brown famously threatened to toss him overboard after this argument. As a result of this threat, Hichens sat gloomily at the tiller and allowed the women to row around and look for survivors. In a photo of Lifeboat No. 6, Quartermaster Hichens can be seen at the rear of the ship manning the tiller and Frederick Fleet is seen at the very front of the ship preparing to catch a tow-line from the Carpathia.

I hear of this story and can just imagine what was going through the minds of the different people involved..

Quartermaster Hichens... likely felt that he had a responsibility to protect those in his boat. They had just come through some pretty awful stuff, and they barely escaped with their lives.. now he wanted to make as much distance as he could from the threat. Row was his command.. it did not matter where , it was night time and all he had to guide them was the sounds of the those screaming for help.. the harder they rowed, the screams continued.. my bet is that he heard those screams for the rest of his life....

Then there are those that for all intensive purposes where along for the ride... they think they have deniability .. after all, they are not in charge, they do not set the course, they simply do as they are told, and trust that they will be OK.. they hear the cries for help, but buy into the notion that there is nothing that they can do...

Then there is Molly Brown... she was not in control, she was not at the oars.. she was another simply along for the ride.. yet she listened to the cries, and realized that she may not be able to help them all, but there was certainly room in her boat for ONE more... When she tried to convince the powers that be that they needed to return, she was simply put down or ignored, but some how she managed to pull together the strength and the courage to make herself heard.. She challenged the notion that nothing could be done, and as long as there was room in her boat for ONE, she was not going to allow them to row away....

Today , we find ourselves looking for survivors in the midst of a storm .. The needs here are so great.. there are so many that we could easily be swamped .. yet we need to take the lead from "Unsinkable Molly Brown" and put our shoulder to the oar and and continue to reach out to the ones in front of us...

Maybe you have room in your boat for ONE more...there are many ways that you can help .. if you look back at the blog over the last few weeks , here, at the LAMb blog or over at David and Jayne's , you will see so many needs ..from training material to repair a broken system.. to documents to restore dignity , to operations and micro loans.. it is all so overwhelming, but don't let that stop you .. just ask your self.. do you have room in your boat for ONE more... with your help, like Molly brown.. we will be unsinkable....

Today we hear the cries for help coming from a small orphanage in Bishkek.. we don't know what we will find when we get there, but we hear the cry and we will respond, ...