When we are in moments of high anxiety, we are liable to say things that apparently make no sense. I speak here as someone who is more than capable of saying things that apparently make no sense entirely unaided and it is with that in mind I am trying to dismiss my innermost thoughts about a comment made by Heidi Randall, whose daughter Leah survived the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian on Monday, where six people are missing, presumed drowned. Be kind, Rick, I am telling myself. Be kind. Ms Randall said she was “beyond relieved” to hear her “daughter’s life was spared by the grace of God. It doesn’t make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives (or are) missing.”
The obvious question is this. Why did God’s grace only apply to Leah Randall and not everyone else on the superyacht? If I am being completely honest – and what’s the point in me writing a blog if I am not being completely honest? – then I am thinking exactly that. However, I do begin from a position of atheism. I do not believe that ‘God’ has a hand in anything, so from the outset I don’t hold with the idea of “by the grace of God”. Having said that, I am trying to be kinder.
I do not know whether Heidi Randall is religious or not and, frankly, it’s none of my business. Also, that expression has been around for a very long time, for when people have dodged a metaphorical (or real) bullet and someone else hasn’t. I mean no disrespect when I say it is a throwaway comment. It was not meant to imply that God has shown her mercy and somehow didn’t care about everyone else. Indeed, there is an element of survivor’s guilt when she adds that “It doesn’t make it any easier living with the heartache of those who have lost their lives (or are) missing.” If her words were not note perfect, her intentions were. We know what she meant. End of story.
There is a tendency for people to think that things happen, as some folk say, “for a reason”, as if things are all pre-planned, possibly though not always by a supernatural being. And I understand that. The idea that there is no meaning to our lives beyond procreation can be hard to take in. Surely there must be more to it than that? Maybe there is, but all the evidence suggests that we are only here as a result of the accident of our birth and that’s it. Whether you believe in God or not, it is surely unlikely that he is sitting around somewhere, deciding on an ongoing basis of who should die, as well as how and when, sparing others, presumably on the basis of some kind of whim? I am trying to keep things simple, for my benefit probably more than yours.
Finally, the conspiracy theorists are all over this tragic story, too. The ‘British tech tycoon’ Mike Lynch likely died in the tragedy, not long after he was cleared in a fraud case relating to the sale of software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. Two days before the superyacht Bayesian sank, Lynch’s co-defendant in the case, Stephen Chamberlain, was killed after being struck by a car. You can only imagine what the more unhinged sections of the internet look like at the moment.
How about a simple truth, that the yacht was struck by a tornado and everything else was a tragic coincidence? That some people on the yacht were luckier than others. That Mr Chamberlain’s death was an entirely separate matter. If we believe only what we know to be true, that will be a start. If the accident of our birth is the reason why we are here, other accidents can happen, too. And if people like me could stop taking things on a literal level at all times, that might help everyone. It would certainly help me.
