The Risk of Living
I’ve been on a few vacations that were so enjoyable that when it was time to come home I didn’t want to do so.
Maybe I didn’t want to stay where I was but I just wasn’t ready to come home.
I am quite certain that wasn’t the case for the passengers aboard the cruise ship “Triumph.”
When the “Triumph” finally arrived in Mobile after its most recent voyage its passengers were no doubt impersonating Dorothy in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” clicking their heels and saying, “there’s no place like home” over and over again.
In case one has been away from all forms of news in the past week, the “Triumph” was a cruise ship owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. There was a fire in its engine room which caused the ship to lose power both for propulsion and for on board electricity.
The result was that the ship was stranded in the middle of the ocean. The ocean liner then had to be towed into a port.
Had the liner been an automobile it would have been broken down on the side of road and someone would have had to have called a tow truck. In the cruise ship scenario however there was a boat stuck in the middle of the ocean with 4,000 passengers on board.
There were many anecdotes of squalid conditions on board the ship. There was no air circulation. The ship’s sewage and plumbing facilities were broken therefore showers and toileting became an issue. Passengers had to use plastic bags for toileting and sleep in deck chairs at night due to the issues with air circulation.
I am quite certain the passengers felt a lot like the castaways of the television comedy “Gilligan’s Island” who left for a three hour tour only to find themselves stranded on a deserted island for a few years.
This time a four day cruise turned into a week long nightmare which was anything but a comedy.
As much as there were squalid conditions on board the ship it must also be said that many of the passengers had kind words to say about the performance of the crew during the ordeal.
There was much praise for how the crew handled the situation and assisted the passengers. That said, there has also been a lot of criticism of how Carnival handled the situation from the corporate side and a number of lawsuits have already been filed. That said, the passengers on the “Titanic” would gladly have traded places with passengers on the “Triumph.”
I’ve been on four cruises over the years. My first was a cruise my high school class took upon our graduation. My wife and I took a cruise with her company and there have been a couple of family vacations on cruise ships as well.
All in all I’ve found them to be enjoyable experiences. After reading of this episode I am left wondering if this is something I would do again.
In the end I think I will get on a cruise ship again some day. The truth is that every decision we make in life has a down side. Every activity we do carries with it the possibility that something will go wrong. Granted some activities carry more risk than others.
Playing golf is no doubt a lot safer than sky diving. There is risk with both but the consequences for failing at sky diving are lot different from the consequences of failing at golf.
About the only safe thing we can do in life is to stay at home and crochet and even then there is the possibility of acquiring carpel tunnel syndrome.
Life has risks. Each and every day offers us choices that can end in success or failure.
Loving someone has risks. When we love another we put our heart at risk. Our hearts can only be broken by those to whom we’ve given our hearts.
Being a parent has risks. Yes children can bring us joy but honesty compels us to admit that children can also bring us heartache.
Earning a living has risks. There is the uncertainty of success or failure in every occupation. There is risk in everything we do from the adventurous to the mundane.
Best selling author Martha Beck has said, “Imagine the choices you’d make if you had no fear—of falling, of losing, of being alone, of disapproval.” Ms. Beck reveals a great truth. We can never let the negative possibilities of life blind us to the opportunities of life.
The greatest risk ever taken was the risk God took when he created humanity. He created us because he needed something to love but with that love there was also risk.
You and I are the walking examples of the risk that God was willing to take. I am thankful that God was willing to take the risk of creating me.