Why You Purchased a Ticket on the USS Titanic

I was raised in the church. I was made to go three times a week until I moved out of the house at age 21. I would eagerly sit in the front row; in fact, we used to get there early so we could cozy up to the pastor and the choir. I knew the Bible, inside and out; still do! From the time I was "saved" in the Christian church at the tender and trusting age of 11, when I felt this funny, incredible stirring in my heart that I could only faintly define as "the Holy Spirit," I have been thirsty for the truth. At 50-something years old, I can honesty say I've found the truth. But it was hidden in a place I didn't expect it to be, and it was MUCH harder to find than was promised. Since my first spiritual yearnings as a child, my life has taken a billion twists and turns. It's been like riding a runaway roller coaster-I've felt mostly like I've been trapped on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Although I've tried hard to maintain a cool and calm façade, the honest truth is: it's been a hair-raising experience, and more painful than I ever imagined it could be.

The church didn't really prepare me for all this. It promised that if I prayed and trusted my friend Jesus, I'd sail through my "trials," growing stronger as the wind buffeted me, and able to bound up mountains like a robo-billy goat. As I said, reality has been a little different, because the "storms" turned into typhoons, and the "mountains" turned into fire-spewing volcanoes! But church did teach me one thing that stuck with me, and I think they got this right: God is in control. Which means by default that it is God who has allowed the hair raising twists and turns, and God who knows about all the destruction I've weathered...the typhoon, the volcano, and all the PAIN. If God is omniscient, it means God has seen the thousands of bitter tears I've shed for my teen aged daughter who committed suicide is 2013-thousands of tears! Buckets of tears, leaving me empty-handed, bereft, and at first, wanting to spit in God's face. And yet today I can say with a clean, clear and open heart that I believe God is still in control, and I'm truly at peace with that. I can say God's in control with such surety because I'm certainly not in control, and you're certainly not! And in the sum of it, at the end of all my trials, even though it was hell and I thought I'd never get through it in one piece, here I stand, healed, and ready to extend a helping hand, and pull to safety other half-drowned wayfarers. I've come to the conclusion that since I'm most definitely NOT in control, that some force way bigger and smarter than I am must be at the helm of this ship. And if I were to guess, I'd say that you and I happened to have boarded none other than the USS Titanic, and it's going to be a very exciting and frightening ride until the very end. Yes maam and yes sir-you and I purchased tickets to the only ship that's headed straight to the bottom of the ocean! Aren't we the lucky ones?

To put this into perspective, I believe there's a method to what seems like madness. Author of, "The Fun of Dying," Roberta Grimes, believes there's a great mystery working behind the scenes of life's trials, too. Roberta refers to all the events that happen to us, both good and bad, as life's "Lesson Plan" that we wrote before we were born. Psychic and author Sylvia Browne referred to them as our Life Charts. I like to think of them as our Life's Blueprint. We three authors agree on this point: that we come into this life with a set of unconscious blueprints. We're not consciously aware of them-we can't remember what we agreed to, or why we wrote it the way we did. We three ladies also agree that these blueprints were uniquely designed by and for each one of us, BY US. Yes, you heard that right. Before we were born, we designed these blueprints, and our souls carried them into life for our evolution. Why else would we be here? We're not here simply to enjoy the view from the captain's deck, or to load up at the sumptuous all-you-can-eat buffet, or to wear that killer flashy dress and matching heels to dinner (sorry to burst your bubble). We are actually on the USS Titanic for the express purpose of HITTING THE ICEBURG. Trying to deny this harsh reality is like running around rearranging the deck chairs.You can rearrange the chairs all you want, but you're still going down! While we didn't come in with a predestination (we have a free will), and we weren't pre-programmed (we don't have to follow instincts the way animals do), we did come here with an obstacle course of challenges laid out before us, and even the most profoundly negative events are written in so we can learn from them.

Sometimes we learn what we need to learn, and sometimes we don't. If we don't, we'll have to repeat the lesson. This is where Sylvia Browne says a Life Theme comes into play. She believes each one of us also has a theme that keeps getting replayed until we learn it, and I'm beginning to think Sylvia's right about this too. At least I've figured out my theme. It was brilliant Anais Nin that phrased it so concisely: "You can't save anyone, you can only love them." That's mine. How do I know that's my theme? Because I've had to learn this one excruciating lesson all my life. And if I were to wager a bet, I'll have to learn it again at some point. Have you noticed themes in your life? Problems that seem to repeat, just with different variations which come disguised behind different faces? The people who have taught us the most soul-changing lessons are our soul mates. We've heard that soul mates are blissful connections, and I believe we have those kinds of soul mate connections. I also believe the people we've learned the most from usually deliver painful lessons. I refer to my daughter who passed away as my soul mate in my book, Once The Storm Is Over, because losing her to suicide taught me more about love and forgiveness than anything else ever will; I've grown tremendously as a result. Would I ever want to give the gift of grief to anyone else? Nope, I wouldn't want you to have to go through that kind of pain. I'd want you to learn your lesson while you still had the chance.

So while in one way it really sucks that we happen to have chosen the Titanic (because the water is frigid, I don't like sharks, and in the end I'm ganna drown), suffering is the only method by which the Universe has found that a human soul can evolve (should I repeat that-because it's really important). Being incarnated in a body is actually a gift, because we are rapidly perfecting ourselves. We are perfecting much more rapidly than the souls without a body. If you look at it that way, the Titanic becomes the Love Boat, because it's the only ship where you can work out your karma this quickly. Earth is the express planet where your soul grows up exceptionally fast (I've always been in a big hurry). You might be wondering what we're here to learn. I think we board the Titanic to learn two things: how to love, and the importance of forgiveness. We learn these lessons throughout our whole lives in many different ways. I've heard it said that most of us only change when it hurts bad enough, and my experience as a counselor has shown me that this is a truism. My clients seem to make the biggest changes when it hurts bad enough. So the next time somebody suggests you should try a cruise for your next vacation, smile big, and ask if they happen to know the name of the particular ship? If it's the USS Titanic, you're headed for a chilling conclusion. But smile, because God is in control.

To see all of Nina's books: http://www.amazon.com/Nina-Bingham/e/B008XEX2Z0