Imagine you’re standing by the side of a pool and someone is splashing you. It’s annoying, so you look into the water and find that someone is there flailing their arms, to keep from drowning.
Would you turn to them and say, “Hey! Quit splashing me!”? No, you would jump in and help them to make sure they’re okay.
Likewise, we as humans are often drowning. We’re drowning spiritually and emotionally. We misbehave. We “splash” others standing by the side of the pool. When someone splashes us, how powerful would it be to choose to notice that they are just drowning, rather than take offense?
Our spouse is curt with us, they are just drowning right now. Our co-workers and neighbors are just drowning right now. Our children are just drowning when they are defiant.
Can we pause from our assumptions long enough to reach out and offer our hand to pull themselves out of the water?
And what about if we, ourselves, are drowning spiritually and emotionally? Unlike a physical drowning, if we help others while we are spiritually drowning, does it drain us further? Or do we also rescue ourselves as we rescue others? .