But there is one aspect of this tragic story that we seldom hear about: There was another ship (the Californian) which was stopped only 10-20 miles away from the Titanic as she was sinking. She could have rescued all of the remaining passengers—everyone could have been saved!
After Titanic hit the iceberg, she sent out numerous calls for help: “S-O-S” and “C-Q-D.” The investigation committee eventually learned why the Californian did not respond to Titanic’s distress calls: the wireless receiver had been turned off 10 minutes prior to the collision. Sadly, her distress signal was not being received by anyone aboard the Californian.
“Throughout the night, no one on board the Californian attempted to wake their wireless operator, and ask him to contact the ship to ask why they were firing rockets and trying to signal them, until 5:30 AM. By then however it was too late — the Titanic had gone down at 2:20. When she had slipped below the water, the sudden disappearance of lights was interpreted by the Californian crew that she had simply steamed on her way.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stanley_Lord&oldid=541407990).
“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them?” (Romans 10:14, The Message)
Early in His earthly ministry, Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the most important. Here is His reply:
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NLT, emphasis mine)
Jesus cares, and we must too!