My Beloved is waiting in the boat for me guiding me to the shore on the other side…
The other day, my children and I watched a movie that was based on the true story of a marathon swimmer, who – after she turned sixty-four years old, swam for almost sixty miles from Cuba to Florida successfully after four previously unsuccessful attempts…
And I have been reflecting on that experience of that woman and on her swim…
There were many interesting parts to that story. Firstly, there was the desire and the attitude. This woman decided that she would try this swim – having been a marathon swimmer who retired from the sport at twenty-eight years old. She began her training in the swimming pool swimming laps for twenty minutes at a time. Then twenty more and more on top of that. By the time she was ready to express a desire to undertake this marathon, she was swimming for five hours in a row without a break.
But that was not the only or even the most interesting part of the experience. This woman had to become physically strong. She needed to be able to swim in a manner that really meant that she needed to be able to endure pain at a threshold higher than anyone else had experienced before. You see, nobody had ever competed that swim before that woman had. And on that swim, she had to contend with many things… sharks and jelly fish, weather and currents…
And that meant that the conditions and preparations had to be exactly right if this woman was going to have a chance of achieving success on this swim. Four times prior to her successful swim she commenced and failed. The weather was a factor, the jelly fish were problematic, she had allergic reactions and the currents carried her in the wrong direction… And she had a team – a whole crew – who were devoted to helping her across the ocean without ever touching her (or she would be disqualified)…
And I have been reflecting on that because that marathon swim is like a sanctifying life… Firstly, to be a saint, I must DESIRE to become one. That means I have to train my spiritual soul to be ready for such a thing. It also means that I must work at it. And just as that marathon swimmer failed over and again, I need to keep picking myself back up and continuing on my journey so that I can achieve the success that I am aiming for – which is eternal life...
And then there are the obstacles – the sharks and jellyfish, the currents and weather. These things are just like all the temptations to sin. They are the things that show me how weak I truly am. But just as that marathon swimmer had a team helping her to move along her journey, I have God and the whole Communion of Saints. And in this way, I am able to keep moving through the water monotonously over and over and over again, picking myself back up each time I fail and trying again. Because my Beloved is waiting in the boat for me guiding me to the shore on the other side…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.