On May 7, 1915, the R.M.S Lusitania, a British ocean liner, was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine. The ship sank in a matter of minutes, killing 1198 of the 1959 passengers aboard. In her book, Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy, author Diana Preston recorded the observations of one passenger, bookseller, Charles Lauriat:

As the ship was sinking and as Lauriat looked around to see who needed life jackets, he noticed that among the crowds now pouring on deck nearly everyone who passed by him that was wearing a life jacket had it on incorrectly." In his panic, one man had thrust one arm through an armhole and his head through the other. Others rushed past wearing them upside down. No one had read the "neat little signs" around the ship telling people how to put them on. Lauriat tried to help, but some thought he was trying to take their life jackets from them and fled in terror.

Preston continues: "Dead and drowning people were 'dotting the sea like seagulls.' Many bodies were floating upside down because people had put their life jackets on the wrong way up … so that their heads were pushed under the water."

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Help from God; Dependence; Trust; Surrender—In the same way, how often do we flee in terror in the presence of the God who is trying to save our lives? (2) Commandments; Bible; Obedience—How often do we ignore the "signs" in God's Word and live with our life jackets on the wrong way up?