“In the face of so many wounds that hurt us and could lead to a hardness of heart, we are called to dive into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of the boundless love of God, in order to experience his tenderness.”
Pope Francis
I love the pool…in concept. In my mind, it’s like a Sandals commercial. I am one of those fit, tan, attractive models who together with his likewise attractive family runs gleefully to a beachside infinity pool while somehow not sweating. In actuality, the pool involves me, very sweaty, chasing around a toddler on concrete while trying to apply sunscreen with an SPF so high it might as well read "just keep all your clothes on." With a four-year-old, you still need to actually get into the pool. So I reluctantly wade up to my knees. Inevitably a synchronized swimming team of 8-year-old boys appears, taking turns splashing around me so that drops of freezing cold water strike me. I look as if I am being tased. On our last visit, my Norah was desperate for me to come in deeper. As I gave the stink eye to the all the children enjoying themselves around me, Norah tugged on my bathing suit. "Daddy, why you mad?" I quickly put on a fake smile and responded, "Oh sweetie, Daddy just doesn’t like being splashed." Norah looked confused. "If you didn’t want to get wet, why are you in a pool?"
Norah’s simple question got me thinking. In what other areas of life do I "enter a pool" and am surprised when I get wet? I want to be a leader and yet I get impatient when I need to help bring people along. I always wanted to be a parent but what I wouldn’t give for those darn kids to not be so dependent on me. I love the idea of growing in my faith…until it challenges me and the truth of what it requires from me feels like those splashes of cold water. You really can't enjoy the pool unless you jump in and hope to get wet. I’m beginning to think the same is true for life and a life in Christ. As we fully enter into this summer, let’s dive head first into the living water available to all of us.
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