Unfriendly Waters
As I swam underneath the murky waters, I saw teeth and terror that stayed with me even when I woke up, dry and safe in my bed. The sun rose and darkness departed, but the terror remained. Oh water, will you now be ruined for me?
What is this betrayal ?
Water said to me, “but you were saved weren’t you? And all that wanted to harm you were prevented from doing so.”
“Still, I was scared” I said, sadness already flooding my mind, waiting to spill out of my eyes.
“The attempted attack on you was not with my permission. You saw floating fish on the surface of murky waters, and you still proceeded into it. Now, you have now come to blame me for a decision you made, from which you were rescued”
Then I sighed, the betrayal still hurting my chest, but perhaps less so.
“In any case perhaps this means that you should trust no one. It is often the places in which you feel the safest, that danger lies waiting.”
And then I sighed again, not sure if I was still angry or afraid or just hurt “but water ... you’re my friend.”
“That I am. But you must be on your guard. Friends can be used to hurt and poison and destroy, even as the friend, in itself, may mean you no harm.
You suffered distress in water, precisely because you never expected to. And you did not even realise the presence of this belief- your ultimate safety with water- until that safety was threatened. This means, be careful. Be aware of yourself. Take nothing for granted.”
“But this makes me feel alone and afraid”, I said.
“The Lord is your shepherd ... you will always be protected. But it does not mean that you should abandon cautiousness. You saw, and instead of pausing to ponder, you shrugged and went ahead to enter a body of water on whose surface you saw fish float.
You must learn to honour your observations. You must learn to see and stop and think. You must learn never to take anything for granted. And while you must see the best in everyone, you should assume the worst in them too.”
“I don’t see how I can do those two things at the same time ...”
“See the best, but don’t let this sight blind you to reality. Water is good. But don’t ignore when a body of water reveals itself to you. People all have good. But don’t ignore people when they tell you who they are. In this instance, the lesson is that you must not act like a baby, who sees danger but does not recognise it. Be wise and know that people tell you who they are. You just have to listen to them.
Next time, you stop and pay attention to things that catch your eye. No one here is telling you to look for things that are not there. The message is to pay attention to that which you can see, but ignore.
Indeed, the truth is never hidden.
So learn to interact with and learn from it.
It will save you a lot of trouble and protect you from avoidable danger.
Don’t let yourself suffer that which is not due to you because you refused to listen.
A word is enough.