Friday, March 9, 2007

Ernest Shackleton

Years ago, I took my children to see an I-max presentation on the arctic adventure of Ernest Shackleton and his crew of explorers. It was inspiring to say the least. Shackleton's dedication to seeing that all of his men were rescued is something we don't always see today.

The story itself, as presented by I-max was so incredible, that it made you want to be a better person. But it wasn't until recently that I heard more of the story.

In Shackleton's ordeal, it was down to himself and two others to cross mountains previously unexplored to get to a whaling station on the other side of the island and get help for the rest of the expedition. They were without the arctic mountain gear they needed so desperately, but they clung to the fact that men would live or die by their efforts. The way was treacherous, from all accounts, yet Shackleton records in his personal journal that at times there were four of them on that mountain, not three.

Shackleton knew that God was with them and it gave them courage to press on, but you won't find that in the I-max presentation.

So I began to wonder, if we were to dig a little deeper into all kinds of inspiring stories, would we find that many of these examples of courage and bravery gave credit to God? Somehow, we tend to screen that out when the stories are shared. Maybe it would be good for us all to dig a little deeper and see how many people give credit to God.

5 comments:

imfreenow.blogspot.com said...

So many secularized things leave out the good part, but thank God for those good movies that do share the stories that give credit to God. Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where the Christian world view was something we could count on more?

joy said...

Yes, the media tends to leave God out of so many stories. My husband and I were miraculously saved from death by carbon monoxide poisoning about a year and a half ago. The local news came to our home to interview us and tell our story on TV. We praised God and spoke of how present He was during our whole ordeal. Every sentence that mentioned God was edited out of the story. We were so disappointed.

Kev said...

Joy, that was a bummer. I remember when I would mention God, the reporter's eyes starting to blink in annoyment.

It is sad that people don't see the providence of God in some of these things. But you know, God still does them anyway in hope that one day they will see His interceding and His love.

Roseuvsharon said...

Unlike humans, God doesn't give only when He gets. Thank God for grace!

David said...

Maybe a remedy for the editing frenzy of the secular news would be to answer every interview question with, "God, God, God, God, God, God, etc., etc........" If they edited anything then there wouldn't be anything for the article!
"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise." (1Cor. 3:18)
"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised." (1 Cor 4:10)
"I say again, let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little." (2Cor. 11:16)