Titanic (revisited)

Yesterday I was browsing through channels on my TV, searching for something to watch, when divine intervention led me to the movie Titanic.

I hadn’t seen or thought about this movie for a long time.  I remember the movie first came out when I was in fourth grade and truly determined the reality in which I lived for years after seeing it.

Titanic was groundbreaking in several ways, and redefined the way people in the industry made epic movies.  Since I was only in fourth grade, it was a battle to get my parents’ permission to see the movie because there was so much “adult” content that might not have been suitable for an impressionable 9-year-old such as myself.

After ceaselessly nagging my parents about letting me go, they finally gave in and I’m very grateful they did. The relationship between the two main characters, Jack and Rose, was monumental as well as unusual, and it left a lasting impact on me.

Up until yesterday, I had regarded their love story as a tragedy.  At the end of the movie my heart broke, thinking of Rose having to leave Jack behind when the ship sank, and to continue her life alone.

I had convinced myself that Jack was Rose’s true soulmate, and she had to settle for someone else. The story seemed sad to my 9-year-old self.  It didn’t end the way it was supposed to, just as Romeo and Juliet didn’t end the way it should have.

Watching the movie again was a completely new experience for me as an adult, because I could see Rose and Jack’s relationship with new eyes, through God’s eyes.  When I watched the movie in the past, I had seen the story unfold through flawed human eyes.  I believed it had a tragic ending because it did not end the way I wanted it to. I was not open to the beauty and providence of God’s plan for the characters.

Rose and Jack were supposed to meet and be a part of each other’s lives at that exact moment in time. Jack opened Rose up to allow her to see and become the woman she was meant to be, and in turn, Rose helped Jack fulfill his purpose in life so when he died, God would welcome him into His kingdom in heaven.

I still believe Jack and Rose were soulmates, but not in the constricted way I used to consider such relationships.  They were intended to be together, but only for the time God wanted them to be.  Life continues despite change; nothing stays the same. Only the Lord’s love for all His created beings remains constant.

The Lord entered Rose’s life through Jack’s intercession and influence on her.  When she boarded the Titanic, she was a prisoner to all the entrapments of an earthly world, but when she reached America, a new world, she was a new person.  She was free – free to be the daughter of God as He created her to be. She moved forward, not alone, but with Him, and He took care of her.

The movie ended exactly the way it should have.  Rose and Jack’s relationship was precisely orchestrated by the divine Composer.  The whole story of Titanic is a beautiful and profound example of God’s will at work.

Although Titanic has always been regarded as a tragedy because so many innocent people lost their lives, it is also a story of triumph and victory.  Survivors living to tell the grand tale, like Rose, were forever changed and were brought closer to the Lord.  They realized they needed to rely on Him instead of the material world, which could be taken away in an instant.

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Originally published at Kitty in the City.
Photo by Руслан Гамзалиев on Unsplash / PD-US

Kat Larson

Kat Larson

Once I moved to New York City I decided to start a blog about my experiences in the big city. The Holy Spirit continues to inspire me to write. I hope anyone who reads my blogs finds inspiration too.

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4 thoughts on “Titanic (revisited)”

  1. “Jack opened Rose up to allow her to see and become the woman she was meant to be….” Are you COMPLETELY sure of that? Or did he simply help her to become the woman that, in this stage of your life, you want her to have become? Rose was meant to be a saint; did Jack help her to become that, or did she become subject to different “entrapments of an earthly world”?

  2. This is a beautiful reflection on how a very secular movie (I’m sure the producers did not intend to portray Jack or Rose as saints!) can still lead to perceiving the power of God in both the forces of nature and the force of human love. As a child, you were saddened because it was not the “happily ever after” ending promoted by Disney and other movies you watched as a youngster. Now that you have “grown up” and grown closer to your faith and your Father in heaven, you can observe the ramifications of Rose and Jack’s relationship in a divine light, not according to the parameters set by Hollywood!

  3. Kat, I am moved to leave a small comment to your post. I enjoyed your views. God does indeed see with divine eyes while we only have human eyes. Other commenters of this leave me with a sense of dismay. That sense that they do not believe what Christ has promised us. They propose doubt that the Creator could have done it their way, or this way, which is really their own human way.
    What a terrible shame for them. Yet, I pray they come to see how perfect His divine plan is. Christ demanded I pray for those who stab us with words.
    Alas, your words on this leave me with a hope and a joy that you ‘get it’. That you listen and obey His voice.
    Believers do indeed know their Master’s voice and they follow it.
    Whose voice do others hear?
    Peace be to you in your life’s journey.
    Edward

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