A symbiotic relationship.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I got to be a drowning victim. 

Our Aquatics director asked me to be a drowning victim for a life guard drill. 

The drills are really cool, they happen when the pool is open and the guards least expect them. One would think the members would be upset by the fact that the pool is cleared, which means they have to get out of the water and sit on the deck during the drill, but they aren't; I think this is for two reasons:

1. The drills are fun to watch.
2. Our guards are really good at their jobs and when the members watch them in action they see how the guards would respond if they had an emergency. 

There is a third reason, but I will save that for later.

Archibald, our Aquatics Director (Not his real name, but like I am fond of saying, a story goes much better with a name attached), came into my office and asked if I would be a drowning victim for the next "Live Drill". I responded immediately, "Yes, I would be honored." Being a victim is fun. you get to pretend to drown, the guards jump in and "save" you, you are back-boarded out of the pool and get to watch them do CPR. Luckily I am replaced by a CPR manikin before any rescue breaths are given, that would just be weird.  

Archibald laid out the drill. He said, "The drill will happen at 4:05pm, just after shift change. I want you to enter the lap pool shortly before 4pm and start swimming laps with your swim paddles on. At 4:05pm take off the swim paddles and lay them on the pool deck (This will signal to the trainers you are about to drown). Then swim to the midpoint of the pool and pretend you had a massive heart attack and just go limp face down; do all of this in the middle lanes so the guard has to swim to you. 

Obviously Archibald had thought this through. 

I entered the pool at 3:55pm and started my swim in lane-3. At 4:05pm I took off my swim paddles and laid them on the pool deck, turned around and started my swim to the middle of the pool. When I arrived at the middle of the pool I stopped swimming and went limp face down. A few seconds later I heard the splash of someone diving in. Less then a minute later I was standing on the pool deck ready to watch a successful drill come to its completion. 

That is when it got weird.

The other guards grabbed me and threw me back into the water, all the while yelling, "Save the whale, Save the whale!" When I came to the surface Greenpeace was there protesting the "back-boarding of a whale" It was quite the scene!

Actually this only happened in my head, but it was hilarious. Did I mention it is loud in my head?

As I was floating back, weightless in the arms of the guard, I was surrounded by this sense of peace, tranquility, and safety. 

God came to mind. 

The feeling I had in the arms of the guard while floating weightless in the water was the same as when I feel the presence of God. 

I will help out Archibald (I really like saying Archibald) again. I will help the guards perfect their craft and they will help me feel the presence of God 

A symbiotic relationship.

Do you have a symbiotic relationship that helps you to sit with God?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger