We are all on a sinking Titanic

I know, gloomy title for an article. But it’s true. We are all on the proverbial sinking ship. We may not know when she is going to sink, but she will sink. Our days are numbered and then our number is called and we find ourselves heading to that great buffet of chicken wings in the sky. So maybe it’s not exactly how you imagine it, but you have to agree that we’re living on borrowed time. I realize that’s a pretty depressing statement coming from a motivational speaker. They should make me write a children’s book and the last page would say, “And they all lived happily ever after, except Farmer Brown, who got hit by a truck the next day on his way to the mailbox.”

There are three scenes I vividly remember from that movie “Titanic”: the scene where the musician plays his violin as they sink, the scene where the captain chooses to die with his ship, and the scene before where they show the fancy people and tense. on the upper deck drinking fine wine and listening to classical music as they strive to impress others, juxtaposed (hope I’m using that word correctly) with ordinary penniless people in the belly of the ship who are dancing arm in arm to the rich beat and thriving from violin music: their dirty fingers, their hair in shreds, their arms outstretched in delicious abandon as their wide toothless smiles express the hope that carries them through despair.

I was struck by the polarity of those two images and how they symbolize two very different ways of living your life. You can live your life rigid and proper, obsessed with appearances, measuring the value of others by the grade of china or the thread count in a pillow, measuring each step as if the whole world is watching and you desperately don’t want to give it up. They see you fall Or you can live your life desperately happy despite your circumstances, seeking every opportunity to stretch your arms and dance.

I will admit that there are many times in my life when I find myself on top, drawn into that world that tells you it’s all about getting to the top of the ship. But it’s not long before I’m running back to the belly of the ship to find the common folk, to link arms with the toothless guy with the big grin, and just dance.

We don’t know when our ship will sink, only that one day it will sink. Will you go down trying to grab all your good stuff? Will you be playing your violin until the last moment? Will you choose to go down with your ship? Or will you spend your time dancing, arm in arm with the common people? The choice is yours. The days are numbered.

See you in the belly of the ship.