And so young Mark began reading about it, whenever it was on tv he tried to watch it, if he heard it on the radio he would listen to it, and when he took a bath, he would pretend that he was swimming in the pool. But that wasn't enough to satisfy him. So when he became old enough to drive, he saved his money and went out and bought the best bathing suit that he could afford. And when Sunday morning came, he drove to the nearest swimming pool.
He parked the car and ran to the door, but as he walked in, he immediately realized that he had bought the wrong bathing suit. But then he began thinking, it really shouldn't matter what kind of bathing suit you have on, besides his bathing suit seemed more comfortable then everybody else's.
It wasn't long before all the swimmers began making their way to the lounge chairs by the pool. And as he walked over to the lounge chairs, he quickly noticed two things that he hadn't expected. First of all, some people had come without even bothering to wear a bathing suit, which he thought was odd. Because he had always assumed that everybody came to the pool to get wet. And secondly, he didn't expect so many women to be wearing string bikinis.
And just as he was getting comfortable in his lounge chair, he spotted a plate going around. He watched as the swimmers began taking money out of their suits and placing it into the plate. It really kind of shocked him, because nobody ever told hiim that he had to pay an admission fee. So when the plate came to him, he just casually passed it to the next swimmer, hoping nobody would notice, but through his peripheral vision he could clearly see their stares of contempt. And he began thinking to himself that maybe he wasn't cut out to be a swimmer after all.
But just then the swiming instructor began making his way to the diving board. He stopped at the lower diving board to shake hands with the assistant swimming instructor, and then continued climbing all the way to the very top diving board.
The instructor had a large book in his hands. "Turn with me if you would, to chapter 3 of your swimming manual." Now Mark had always heard about the swimming manual, but he had always assumed that they would be provided at the pool. So all he could do was listen, and listen he did.
But there were two problems with the swimming instructor which the students had failed to notice. First, the swimming instructor never did actually get into the water himself. And secondly, he never told his students how to swim properly, but instead told them how not to swim. And the threatd of drowning was always a recurring theme in his lectures.
And so Mark and the others would just play in the water, making sure to stay in the shallow part of the pool. But after many years, he did finally learn how to dog paddle. And it was about this time that he began caling it, "his pool", You could often overhear him talking to other swimmers saying, "You need to come to my pool, it's the best pool in town."
"It is?" they would reply, "Well, how clean
is it?"
"I just told you, it's the best pool it town"
And sometimes they would come, but when they
saw how dirty the water actually was, they
would only dangle their feet in the water.
And Mark always wondered how come they never
came back. But the problem was that not only
had they forgotten to clean the water, but
that over time, they had forgotten what a
clean pool of water actually looked like.
Then one day when Mark was alone in the pool, a Stranger walked in. "What's he doing here? He's not a memeber!" Mark thought to himself.
But he had failed to see that the
Stranger was wearing a life guard uniform.
"You know there's an ocean right behind your
clubhouse, have you ever tried swimming
there?" Said the Stranger
"What do you mean, an ocean?" mark
replied
"You know, an ocean. It's a huge body of
water, it stretches for miles and miles."
"What are you talking about?" mark asked.
"I've never seen an ocean
back there."
"Well of course you haven't!" the Life Guard
snapped back. "You've got a wall all the way
around your clubhouse. It's so high that you
can't see out, and no one can see in." And
then He said more gently, "Trust Me, climb
over that wall--if you can, and you will see
the ocean."
So Mark climbed out, ran out the door, found a ladder and propped it up against the wall. He climbed up and peered over, and sure enough there was the ocean. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It seemed to stretch for miles, and then he noticed that here was also a beach which was filled with people.
He climbed over the fence and began running towards the ocean, but when he reached the beach, he found it hard to get through. There must have been millions of people on the beach and they were crammed in like sardines. And so he found himself weaving around, sometimes stepping over people.
When Mark was almost to the ocean he stopped and began thinking, that compared to the number of people on the beach, there really weren't that many people swimming. He though that odd, because it must have been around a 100 degrees. And as he stepped over the next man, he looked down and saw that this man was dressed in a suit and tie, which really confused him.
"Why are all you people laying on the beach
for, did everybody forget their bathing
suits?" Mark asked.
"Oh no, we dont' believe in swimming.
Everybody knows that's just a
mirage."
"How do you know?" Mark asked. "Have you ever
tried swimming in it?"
"Of course not, everybody knows that's just a
mirage, I don't know what those people think
they are doing."
But Mark knew water when he saw it, and so he continued on his journey to the ocean. When he got to the edge, he decided he'd just watch for a while. And he observed that most of the people stayed in the shallow part, just kicking and splashing the water, but there were some good swimmers. And as he watched these swimmers, he saw that they would swim out as far as they could, then when they got tired, they would swim back to land. They would sit down for awhile and rest, then go right back in and swim out as far as they could, then they'd come back again.
Well, Mark had watched long enough, he jumped into the ocean and began swimming (dog paddling). The water felt wonderful, and he was so happy with himself that he decided he'd try to outswim the others, like it was some sort of competition. But it wasn't long before he himself became very tired, and very thirsty from swimming so hard. Not to mention that water had gotten into his eyes and ears. And so he thought he'd take a break, but when he put his feet down, there was no bottom. And he began to panic.
He started thrashing in the water and was soon choking on it. He yelled for help to the other swimmers but they didn't seem to hear him. Frantically, he looked to the people on the beach for help, but they only pointed their fingers and began laughing. And just when he thought he was going to go under, a Man in a boat came to him and pulled him in it.
The Man held him as he coughed the water out of his lungs. And then the Man, who was robed in white, took the hem of his robe and gently wiped his eyes and cleared his ears. Then the Man took an empty flask from the boat and He dipped it in the water, and it became wine. He gave it to Mark and he began to drink and drink, but the flask never emptied. The Man in white, then took the wine and poured it all over him, and it washed away all the slime, muck, and seaweed. Then He put his hand upon Marks head and began to speak.
"My people are thirsty, but they will not
open their mouths."
Their ears have closed, and they wil not
clear them.
Their eyes have become blurred, but they do
not wipe them.
Their arms have grown weary, yet they do not
reach for Me.
They have grown tired from swimming, and
still they will not enter into My rest.
And so I have filled you, and annointed you with the new wine. Take this to your brothers and sisters. It will quench their thirst and wash them clean. Their arms will become strong, and they will reach higher for Me. Their legs will be strengthened, and they will walk closer to Me. Their ears will open, and they will hear Me. Their eyes will regain sight, and they will see Me."
And then He handed Mark a tightly wrapped scroll, and He said, "This scroll contains the seeds of life, throw them and they will become lifesavers."
And then He was gone, and when Mark lifted his head, his vision became blurred. And as he was squinting his eyes, he thought he could see the Man in white walking on the water. And even though the waves were crashing and the wind whipping, it didn't seem to affect Him. He began blinking his eyes, trying to focus them. He tried squinting, rubbing, and wiping, but nothing worked, until he closed one of them. He closed his right eye and saw the large waves and the wind blowing. Then He closed his left eye and looked with his right, and he saw the ocean as a crystal sea with no ripples or waves. It was then when he saw the Man again. The Man was on a tropical island not far from land. Mark watched as the other swimmers would swim almost to the island, the Man in white would stretch out His hand, but the swimmers would only turn back around and go back to the beach. And Mark could see the tears in the Man's face.
It was then when the Man in white spoke again. "Get out of the boat, and walk on the water." Mark hesitated for a moment, then stepped out and began walking on the water. He looked up at the Man, not quite knowing what to do. The Man pointed to a swimmer dog paddling in the water. So Mark began walking over to him, and that's when he realized that this swimmer was having trouble staying afloat. As Mark walked past the other swimmers, he felt for sure they would look up and just be amazed that he was walking on water. But, none of them saw him, they were so concerned with swimming that the only time they looked up was to take a quick breath.
As he walked nearer to the swimmer, he realized that the swimmer was about to panic. Then he rememberd the seeds. He unraveled the scroll, took a seed, and tossed it towards the swimmer. When the seed hit the water it transformed into a lifesaver, and in large bold letters it read, "I am with you always."
But this swimmer was concentrating so hard on staying afloat, that he splashed it away. So Mark took another seed and tried to throw it upon him. It became a lifesaver with the words, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It landed on his shoulder, but once again he splashed it away.
Just then a sharks fin emerged out of the water, heading straight for the drowning swimmer. Mark began to panic, he was about to throw another seed when he thought, "What good is a lifesaver going to do?" So he began yelling, "Shark!! Shark!! Get out of the water!!!"
But the swimmer couldn't hear him and the shark was bearing down on him, so in one last attempt, he threw the seed as hard as he could. In mid-air it became a harpoon and sunk deep within the shark. And all Mark could do was stare in awe. And as he stared he realized that even with the sharks blood pooling around this swimmer, he still had no idea that he had almost been eaten by a great white shark
Then something unusual happened, A gust of wind began blowing the man in the water to the man on the water.
When Mark saw this he thought he'd just wait until the swimmer was within arms reach, and then he'd pull him out. But immediately another strong wind came from the opposite direction, and when the two winds collided the water began swirling making a small whirlpool.
I'll try one more time, Mark thought to himself. He grabbed another seed and threw it to the swimmer. When it hit the water it became a lifesaver and it read: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Then he understood that the seeds were just as much for him as they were for the drowning swimmer. He ran to him and pulled him out just as the whirlpool was about to suck him under. Mark dragged him into the boat, and he held him as he coughed the water out of his lungs. Then he wiped his eyes and cleared his ears. He then gave him the wine to drink, and when his thirst was quenched, he poured it upon him, washing him clean. And like Mark, the swimmers vision became blurred. He insructed the swimmer to cover his left eye and to only look with his right.
And so the two began walking by faith, looking with spiritual eyes, with love in their hearts, and doing whatsoever the Man in white commanded them. The Man would often instruct them who to help. And it wasn't long before many people were walking on the water. But the one thing that did puzzle Mark was that some people would close their right eye and immediately fall into the ocean, and begin swimming again, having forgotten that they had just walked on water.
And as more and more people began walking on water, it wasnt' long before people on the beach began walking closer to the shoreline, right to the edge where the land met water. But instead of climbing into the water, they would say, "We want what you have, let us drink of this wine so that we too can walk on water."
And then the day came when the Man in white walked over to Mark, He took him by the hand and said, "Your work here is finished. Come thou good and faithful servant" And the two walked away into paradise.