“All you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” Isaiah puts it so simply, but I am too often afraid to dive in. As we prepare for Easter, I think back to when our kids took swimming lessons.
It was time for them to pass the test for jumping off the diving board. They didn’t have to execute the most complex dive ever. They just had to jump. The youngest went first and did just fine. The other one got to the very end of the diving board and froze. As much as she wanted, she simply couldn’t let go. She suffered the ignominious fate of having to turn around and come back to earth via the steps. Worse, she had to do this in front of an audience of peers.
I told her it was OK, you’ll know when it is time and then you’ll be able to do it. And a few days later, she did.
Faith is like that, a jumping off into the great unknown. In earthly matters, I’m good at leaping right in before checking to see if there is water waiting to catch me. But in the part of life that matters, that scary area of trusting God, I often forget that it’s OK to go ahead without knowing all the details. I forget that no one, ever, drowns in the Living Waters.
God, you know that I am in Beginners I when it comes to faith. I’m still trying to learn to let go and float. I’m such a long way from trying out the diving board. Help me remember that you are there, always, ready to embrace me. When I hesitate to take that step off the board of my concrete knowable world, help me know that now is always the time to jump in.
Amen.
