February 09, 2010

Swimming Lessons

Last weekend our family got together at a local hotel for a mini-reunion. It was nice that we had the swimming pool all to ourselves so the littlest cousins could enjoy one another. Mikayla, my 10 year-old niece, is severely autistic and because of a birth defect is missing the left side of her brain. With her life vest on, Mikayla started to get in the pool and then changed her mind and headed for the hot tub. Coming up behind her, her daddy scooped her up in his arms, made her into a human canon ball and then pitched her into the middle of the pool. I was glad we were the only ones there because an observer could have easily jumped to the wrong conclusion and misunderstood. Mikayla came up smiling, paddled to the steps, got out of the pool and undeterred, headed for the hot tub. I have a mental image of the Father making sure we have our life vest on before He scoops us up in His arms and tosses us into the world.

2 comments:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----Your interjection of the possible wrong conclusion by an observer is an excellent analogy of those who innocently or maliciously accuse God of all the ails in the world. They attempt logically to take Him to task for having created Satan. “A perfect God could not remain perfect having created an evil being.” Since indeed evil exists, and by the definition of God as the creating origin of all things, it then is supposed to be certain that God created evil by creating Satan. That concludes God is evil, or non-existent. Either way, they think they have smartly rendered themselves unanswerable to anything but their selves or some collective pool of human philosophy. Bobbing around beside them, unused in their pool of stupidity, is this floatation device quite obviously not made of the same stuff as is the pool.
-----If it were not for that lifesaver, we would have nothing other than death in the pool. As it actually is, God throws us into the pool at birth. It is then given to us to accept and wear a flotation device we either find ourselves or have been presented with by another. All forms of backstrokes, breaststrokes, and dogpaddles get taught in the pool, but only the lifesavers are tethered to the dry land from which they were thrown. The stroking, paddling, kicking, and bubble-blowing are ingenuities born in the minds of the pool patrons by the combination of its bottomless condition and their desire to feel capable in themselves. But these all ignore the point that eventually one sinks when one‘s ability to exert effort ends. Unless one is embraced by a lifesaver.
-----The lifesaver preserves only by the fact that it is not of the substance of the pool or its patrons. It was made and thrown by the God who dwells on the dry ground. As such, its instructions for the user about the tethering, the dry ground, and the God who dwells upon it are the only logical statements within the pool about these things. Stroking, paddling, kicking, and bubble-blowing are all the pool itself can offer.
-----Deep in the instructions of the lifesaver is the truth about God and evil. God created all things perfect, even the most glorious angel. This most glorious angel denied God, and that was the creation of evil. The fact that it was found in Lucifer even though God did not desire it or will it further attests to God’s perfection. Contrary to the accusations of fascism and a ruthless dictatorial nature about Him, many things do happen against His will: He wills that none should parish, but many will perish. He has willingly denied Himself so these can have what they want. But He did provide His own presence in the pool as a bottom for His perfectly created man to stand securely upon before man opted to enjoy the pool without a bottom. Having been cast into this pool at birth, we can not blame God for all the kicking, thrashing, and bubble-blowing others must do for the sake of the pool’s having no bottom. We can only blame them for not slipping into a lifesaver and learning the truth.

Love you all,
Steve Corey

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----Your interjection of the possible wrong conclusion by an observer is an excellent analogy of those who innocently or maliciously accuse God of all the ails in the world. They attempt logically to take Him to task for having created Satan. “A perfect God could not remain perfect having created an evil being.” Since indeed evil exists, and by the definition of God as the creating origin of all things, it then is supposed to be certain that God created evil by creating Satan. That concludes God is evil, or non-existent. Either way, they think they have smartly rendered themselves unanswerable to anything but their selves or some collective pool of human philosophy. Bobbing around beside them, unused in their pool of stupidity, is this floatation device quite obviously not made of the same stuff as is the pool.
-----If it were not for that lifesaver, we would have nothing other than death in the pool. As it actually is, God throws us into the pool at birth. It is then given to us to accept and wear a flotation device we either find ourselves or have been presented with by another. All forms of backstrokes, breaststrokes, and dogpaddles get taught in the pool, but only the lifesavers are tethered to the dry land from which they were thrown. The stroking, paddling, kicking, and bubble-blowing are ingenuities born in the minds of the pool patrons by the combination of its bottomless condition and their desire to feel capable in themselves. But these all ignore the point that eventually one sinks when one‘s ability to exert effort ends. Unless one is embraced by a lifesaver.
-----The lifesaver preserves only by the fact that it is not of the substance of the pool or its patrons. It was made and thrown by the God who dwells on the dry ground. As such, its instructions for the user about the tethering, the dry ground, and the God who dwells upon it are the only logical statements within the pool about these things. Stroking, paddling, kicking, and bubble-blowing are all the pool itself can offer.
-----Deep in the instructions of the lifesaver is the truth about God and evil. God created all things perfect, even the most glorious angel. This most glorious angel denied God, and that was the creation of evil. The fact that it was found in Lucifer even though God did not desire it or will it further attests to God’s perfection. Contrary to the accusations of fascism and a ruthless dictatorial nature about Him, many things do happen against His will: He wills that none should parish, but many will perish. He has willingly denied Himself so these can have what they want. But He did provide His own presence in the pool as a bottom for His perfectly created man to stand securely upon before man opted to enjoy the pool without a bottom. Having been cast into this pool at birth, we can not blame God for all the kicking, thrashing, and bubble-blowing others must do for the sake of the pool’s having no bottom. We can only blame them for not slipping into a lifesaver and learning the truth.

Love you all,
Steve Corey