BACK IN TIME A New Titanic to Take to the Seas Youth Culture Lesson Finding Teachable Moments in Culture From YouthWorker Journal and YouthWorker.com By Paul Asay

The Titanic’s first voyage didn’t go so well. She was called unsinkable when she was first launched, but that proved horrifically wrong when the ship hit an iceberg in the early hours of April 15, The Titanic sunk, taking more than 1,500 passengers with her. WHAT HAPPENED

Now, more than 100 years after that fateful voyage, the Titanic—or at least a reasonable facsimile—is getting ready to set sail again. If all goes well, it’ll take its maiden voyage sometime in WHAT HAPPENED

 The Titanic II, the brainchild of an Australian tycoon, Clive Palmer, won’t be identical to its predecessor in every respect. For a few things, it’ll be slightly wider, will include state-of-the-art navigation and safety equipment and have plenty of lifeboats—enough for 2,700 people rather than the 1,100 or so who found room on the lifeboats on the original. Oh, and instead of sailing from Southampton to New York, it’ll go from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates—waters free of icebergs.

WHAT HAPPENED  In most other respects, it’ll be practically identical. It will include Turkish baths, swimming pools and a squash court and will sell first-, second- and third-class tickets as the original did. Despite its extra width, it’ll be just about the same size as the original—which, ironically, makes the ship not quite so titanic. The Titanic II will be 40,000 tons, while two ships in Royal Caribbean’s line are a whopping 225,000 tons.

WHAT HAPPENED  Some people, particularly relatives of the victims of the original Titanic voyage, allege this new ship is insensitive, but that hasn’t stopped the Titanic II from receiving a boatload of interest. Plenty of prospective passengers have lined up to buy tickets, some offering nearly $1 million. Presumably, they believe the new ship will fare better than the original.

TALK ABOUT IT  Have you ever been on a cruise ship before? What was it like?  Do you think it would be cool to sail on the new Titanic?  Do you think it’s too creepy?  Would you be worried at all about it sinking?

TALK ABOUT IT It can be fun to visit the past. Some people love going to fancy teas held in nearby mansions or visiting Old West towns filled with horses, cowboys and the occasional gunfight. Others like visiting the past through movies or TV shows.  If you could go back in the past, what era would you pick? Why?

TALK ABOUT IT Sometimes it can be nice to go back in our own pasts, too—remember what it was like to be a little kid or revisit a very special time one or two years ago.  What was your favorite time of life so far? What made it so special?  Is there a time of life that you wish you could relive? Why?  Would you want to relive a happy time or fix some things that went wrong?

TALK ABOUT IT There are people who perhaps spend too much time in the past— reliving happier times or old hurts and transgressions.  Do you know anyone who won’t let the past go, someone who refuses to move past a painful time, someone who thinks that whatever’s ahead is all downhill?  Do you ever find it difficult to move on—to live in the present and look to the future?

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS While some fondness for the past is fine, the Bible tells us that when it comes to our own lives, we always should be looking ahead, not behind. “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isa. 43:18-19).

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this” (Ecc. 7:10).