Greater Love...

I have finished reading the 500 page transcript from the El Faro voice recorder of the conversations on the bridge of the El Faro up to the time the ship sank.
I was greatly moved.
As I have written before the seaman, including the captain, were brave and honest up to the very last.
Even when they knew how grim their situation was becoming they never lost their sense of humor and did everything they could to save the El Faro in the face of the hurricane.
As with any accident a series of events went wrong, any one of which if prevented might have saved the ship.
Reading the transcript made me realize as never before all the times I have been on the sea how I could have met their same fate.
This is why all seaman believe in God's providence and why I always prayed before going to sea.
The most moving part of the transcript was the approximately final ten minutes.
The captain had ordered the abandon ship alarm sounded.
The captain and helmsman were the only ones left on the bridge and the helmsman was paralyzed by fear and wouldn't leave the bridge.
Even the bravest clipper ship captains have been paralyzed by fear in the face of a hurricane and if they survived never recovered. In the 1800's they called it brain fever.
The captain, even though he knew it could cost him his life, wouldn't leave his helmsman and did everything he could to have the helmsman follow him to the lifeboat.
The captain and the helmsman went down with the ship together on the bridge.
The captain and the helmsman also went immediately to heaven together.
Jesus has something special to say about Captain Davidson and his friend:

   12  This is my commandment, That ye love
one another, as I have loved you.
  13. Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends. St. John 15

all-a-blog-drug-corruption
allablogmatthew25
allablogmuslimkashmir

Captain Bill Schweizer U.S.M.M., missionary
Mountaintop Sea Ministries International

Without menses-malice.