Hearts That Survive (38 page)

Jesus (John 14:27)

1. Do you think the sinking of
   Titanic
   was an act of God or of man? Why?
   
2. One intelligent, logical character describes another as a dream, as if that were a failing. Which is of greater importance in the world in which we live? Are they of equal importance?
   
3. A character concluded that he must not only avow his love but also show it. Do you find that essential to a relationship? How does one show what he/she avows?
   
4. John asked forgiveness for himself and Lydia. He professes to be a Christian. She doesn't. Is she forgiven? Can someone be forgiven for their personal sins if they ask but are not a Christian?
   
5. Do you think Lydia's and John's sense of guilt for having been intimate before marriage is because they felt it was against God's commands, against the culture of the day, or because her pregnancy would be a sign of what they'd done? At what point do most people feel guilty? After doing wrong or after being caught?
   
6. Could you ever lie to your husband about the fact that you were carrying another man's child? Or, have you ever raised your spouse's illegitimate child? Should you tell that child his true parentage?
   
7. How do you feel about Caroline wanting to be
   ordinary?
   What does
   ordinary
   mean? How does wealth affect who we are? Should it? If we are born to wealth, it does seem to have something to do with making us the person we are. Can/should we try to change that?
   
8. How does being involved in a national tragedy change the way a person grieves? Is there comfort in knowing you're not alone in your grief, or is it diluted because you are just one among many?
   
9. Have you ever been in a situation where your own grief (or another emotion) made you forget that someone else was suffering too, the way Caroline suddenly realized that Bess was also grieving?
   
10. People freezing and dying in the ocean were calling out for God and Jesus to save them. Do you think Jesus would say to them, as he said to the thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise"? Would this be like a deathbed conversion, or would it be too late for those who had previously not believed in God and Jesus?
    
11. The character, Craven Dowd, is an enigma. Do you think he is a believer in the Christian faith or not? Why or why not?
    
12. Culture gave the characters the status of first-, second-, and third-class passengers. Did the surviving characters in
    Hearts That Survive
    change their personal definition of class? How does today's culture define the status of people? How do you define a person's worth?
    
13. Bess had her own unique definition of friendship. What is yours? What should determine who we choose as a friend? Is friendship conditional?
    
14. When one of the characters is dying, he is described as one moment being plunged into painful darkness. The next instant he is in the presence of serene light. Do you believe that is the experience of death? What do you think the moment of death is like?
    
15. How do you feel about Lydia keeping secrets? Can we judge if she was right or wrong? Why?
    
16. Alan says he can't live up to JoAnna's standards. JoAnna replies, "Neither can I." What does she mean by that?
    
17. In 1912 men were expected to die for their wives, to give up their lives for the women and children. Do you think the same concept is alive and well today? Would men still abide by the "women and children first" unwritten rule? Would it be selfish for a woman to want men to sacrifice their lives for them?
    
18. Are we any safer with our feet on the ground than in a ship on the sea? Do you think people would change their way of living if they really thought they were subject to disaster at any time?
    
19. Can you identify with any of the characters? In what way are you most like one of the characters? most different?
    
20. Were the survivors of
    Titanic
    saved by chance or was it God-ordained? If you were one of few survivors of a tragedy such as the
    Titanic
    sinking would you think it was chance, coincidence, luck, or God-ordained?
    

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Donn Taylor, who wrote the poem John composed for Lydia in the novel, is a poet who holds a PhD in Renaissance literature and has more than twenty years' experience teaching poetry. His poetry has appeared in
Christianity and Literature, The Lamp-Post
(Journal of the California C. S. Lewis Society), and other journals, as well as general audience publications such as the
Presbyterian Record
(Canada). His poetry collection,
Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond,
was published in 2008. Donn is also a novelist, and his fiction includes the suspense-filled
The Lazarus File
and a lighthearted mystery,
Rhapsody in Red.
He has also published essays on writing, literary criticism, ethical issues, and U. S. foreign policy. In a prior incarnation, he served in two wars with the U. S. Army.