Today is Monday, October 1st, 2012; Karen's Korner #2411
A short story taken from "Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to JOY" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
She re-tells the story of Lady Elgin, an overnight boat traveling Lake Michigan between Chicago and Milwaukee on the evening of September 7, 1860. The more than 400 passengers enjoyed the short-term cruise blessed with good food, live bands, and dancing. Late into the night, Lady Elgin was struck on its left side by a much smaller 130-foot schooner, the Augusta. It was believed that little, if any damage was done to either boat.
But a half hour later, it was obvious Lady Elgin was sinking, and Titantic-like rescues began to take place with many of the passengers now struggling in Lake Michigan waters, clinging to whatever floating pieces they could find.
"...Edward Spencer, a seminary student from nearby Northwstern University, who had grown up along the Mississippi River and knew how to handle himself in the water" began pulling victims one-by-one form the choppy waters. "Eventually, of the thirty victims who survived along the water's edge in Evanston that day, seventeen of them would owe their lives to Spencer's heroic efforts."
"But although his bravery would be the beginning of new life for many, it became the end of a dream for the young seminarian. Never quite able to recover from the physical toll of that fateful day, he was forced to abandon his schooling, his livelihood, and his dreams of becoming a pastor and scholar. Some remember him being nearly paralyzed the rest of his life, often confined to a wheelchair."
"And though his valor would at times be recalled in newspaper accounts and other general tributes, when asked by a reporter what he most recalled about the rescue, he replied, "Only this: of the seventeen people I save, not one of them ever thanked me."
"Was that too much to expect?"
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I wonder how often we forget to thank others for what they have so generously done for us?
The recounting also makes me think of what Jesus did for us spiritually, when he 'drug us out of the icy waters' of this life and our ultimate, and maybe even untimely, deaths. And by His death, rescued each one of us. Only one question, "Have we ever thanked Him?"
"He calms the storms and stills the waters."
~ Psalm 107:29 LB
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