It was seventy-four years ago, today.
Methodist minister George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reformed minister Clark Poling, and Catholic priest John Washington were aboard the troop ship SS Dorchester. They were all commissioned first lieutenants, they were all chaplains.
At twelve fifty-five a.m. on the 3rd of February, 1943, the Dorchester was torpedoed off the coast of Newfoundland.
As the ship began to sink the chaplains helped as many troops and civilians as they could into the lifeboats. Then it became apparent there were not enough life jackets for everyone on the ship. The chaplains each took off theirs and gave it to someone else.
After the lifeboats were sent off, they linked arms, prayed, and sang together. According to the Wikipedia article on this event, “survivors could hear different languages mixed in the prayers of the chaplains, including Jewish prayers in Hebrew and Catholic prayers in Latin.”
The chaplains all died that cold dark morning.
A Zen teacher was once told he was going to hell. He said that was certainly fine by him. The person was taken aback, and asked, why? The teacher said so I can help.
As the good rabbi tells us, no greater love…
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