Life from the Bottom of the Pool
Have you ever had a near-drowning experience? I did, when I was little, and despite the years that have gone by, I still remember it vividly.
I was playing in the shallow end of the pool, fully intending to stay there, as I knew I couldn’t swim. Shooting a Nerf basketball with some friends, I went out for a long shot, and before I could react I felt the floor go out from underneath me and the water cover me.
I don’t think that there can be a worse feeling than that, looking up at the surface and life, and flailing underneath, sucking in water with the hopeful light getting ever further away. The futile effort to get to the surface only increases the need to breathe unavailable air. You can see the light; you just can’t get there.
Of course, I’m writing this right now because my father noticed that I had disappeared and hauled me, spluttering and struggling, to the surface. It seemed like an eternity down there, even though it was hardly more than a few seconds.
I’ve mastered the spluttering and struggling. Now I’m waiting for the Father.
