The Swimmers - The Coming Times

The Coming Times

The Swimmers

And I see a man swimming in the Atlantic Ocean

He is a skilled swimmer

His strokes are strong and steady, their form correct

And I see that he is followed by many others

Not all as highly skilled at swimming as he is

And the first of the group is about 3 feet behind him

He is at the forefront and center

And they are following him

They keep their eyes upon him

They are trusting in him to lead them to shore

To know the way to shore

And he continues his purposeful rhythm and his steady pace

And they to the best of their abilities swim as well as they can

To keep up; to remain within the group

To not be left behind

And are any of them left behind?

Let me look, Mother

I see that yes, there are stragglers

The weak and the slow

But they are not behind

For stronger swimmers are swimming behind them

Swimmers who could easily move forward to the front of the pack

Are remaining at the tail end

So that no one is lost

Not even the weakest and the slowest

So no, Mother, no one is left behind

Excellent

Continue dear one

And now land is on the horizon

The swimmer at the front sees it

The ones behind him do not see it yet

But the front and foremost swimmer sees it

And it is all he can do to not double his speed

So as to reach the land

But he is mindful of the swimmers behind him

He knows that he must remain within their sight

And so he maintains his pace, neither increasing nor decreasing it

Despite his oh so strong longing to just swim right for shore and now!

And now the swimmers are near the point where the waves break

And yes now all the swimmers see the land ahead

Right past the breaking waves is the land

And the lead swimmer shows them how to catch a wave

And ride it into shore

The breaking wave is actually a help; it is not foe but friend

For it will ride you into shore more quickly than one can swim in

And the lead swimmer is standing on the land

Looking back at the ocean

The group is still behind the breaking waves

The first row are approaching the breaking waves

And you can see their hesitancy

Some of them remain in place as they wonder how to approach the breakers

For they are not sure how

And the lead swimmer sighs

And plunges back into the water

And returns to the first row of swimmers

And coaches them

He demonstrates the body position necessary

He explains to them to let go; to relax; to trust in the wave to carry them in

And with a few by his side, they ride the waves in together

And the 2nd group of people have seen this

And they now take their courage in their hands and do the same

And yes, some of them are tumbled about this way and that

But they all reach the shore

They all safely reach the shore

But the 3rd group is fearful

It had not been able to clearly see the leader’s demonstration

And it is looking at the breaking waves

They seem so violent these waves

And they are fearful

And the lead swimmer takes a deep breath for courage and resolve

And plunges back into the water

And repeats his explanation

And he has a few swimmers go ahead

With only his explanation to guide them

The swimmers already on shore are clapping and encouraging them on

And when these few swimmers have safely reached shore

The lead swimmers turn to those who are now next

Are you ready?

And yes they have seen their fellows, their peers safely make it to shore

They have seen the more advanced already standing on the shore

They have heard his detailed explanation

Yes, they are ready!

And they too make it into shore

And some of them get frightened while riding the waves

And so instinctively resist

And therefore are battered about more than is necessary

But they all make it in safely to shore

And so the process repeats itself

The lead swimmer remains out behind the breakers

As he treads water and coaches and instructs and encourages

Each successive group to get past their fear of the breakers

To understand the concept

That the breakers will actually relieve them of their effort

And carry them into shore

And line by line, group by group, they all

With varying degrees of scrapes and of being tumbled about

They all safely reach shore

And now the weakest swimmers are up next

And by now the lead swimmer is tired

His legs are like jelly

And he knows that if he waits for all the remaining swimmers

He shall surely drown

Of this there is no doubt

And so he turns to the stronger swimmers

Who had been protecting the weakest

Keeping them from falling out of the group altogether

Keeping them from discouragement and from giving up in fatigue

The lead swimmer explains the concept and the technique

Of riding in the breakers to these, the last and stronger swimmers

And he asks them, he charges them with the task and the responsibility

Of bringing in these the weakest of the swimmers in to shore

And they readily agree

And now the lead swimmer is truly fatigued beyond measure

For he had been treading water a long time now

He had been displaying patience and forbearance for some time now

And he feels his endurance running out

And no, no one is to be sacrificed for another

He takes a deep breath of the salty ocean breeze for courage and energy

And yes rides his last wave into shore

And arrives safely

And now the stronger swimmers each take charge

Of a few of the weaker swimmers

Some strong swimmers have as few as 3 weak swimmers

They are responsible for

Others have as many as five

ut each weak swimmer has a strong swimmer assigned to him

And feels great relief

And slowly but surely

Each group of swimmers

One strong swimmer along with 3 to 5 weak swimmers rides in to shore

And Mother oh my dear Mother

They all make it in!

They each and everyone arrive safely into shore

They each and every single one of these swimmers are standing on the land!

Oh no!

I am seeing one swimmer

One lone swimmer caught in the breakers

And oh dear, he seems to have got caught in a riptide

And the look of utter panic in his eyes is clear to all

And they look at each other

And yes consensus quickly forms

And they form a human chain

From the shore to the swimmer in crisis

They each hold hands and they each stand firmly in their place

Until the very last swimmer reaches the one in trouble

And picks him up and bodily hands him to the person behind him

In the chain

And so the one caught in the riptide is handed from one to the other

To the next until he is finally on shore

And this process repeats itself

The human chain stands firm

The person furthest out in the water; for he too is in the riptide

Reaches to the person closer in

And he too is handed from one to the other to the next

Until he too is finally back on shore

And this process repeats itself

Until all are safely standing on the sand

Until all are out of the water

Until all are out of danger

And now yes, the statement is true

Verily it can be said that not one was lost

Each and every swimmer from the lead to the weakest

Is now standing on land

And yes some of them are sitting on land

For truly this has been a harrowing experience

And some of them are only now beginning to allow the truth

Of how close they were to drowning to surface to their consciousness

They are only now beginning to allow themselves to realize

And feel the danger they were in

And yes they all sit down

And some are in tears

In tears of gratitude and relief

In tears of exhaustion

In tears

And when they have been spent of their tears

I now see them in a circle around a campfire

And yes now they are eating and nourishing and replenishing themselves

They are being restored to themselves

Their nerves are being calmed

They are being healed

And yes they find great comfort in the food and in the fire

And in their comrades

All of whom, thank God, thank God, have survived this trek

And yes now they have finished eating

And they now bow their heads and silently give thanks to God for his mercy

For the great mercy he has shown them

In leading them safely home

They thank God for their leader

They thank God for each other and for the help of their neighbors

Some of them even know to thank God for the help of the breakers

Those breakers which rode them in home

When truly they had been too tired to swim any further

And now their prayers are over

And the sun has set

And they are now lying on blankets

And they fall asleep under the light of the stars