I sat on the deep-water edge of a floating dock. I was a beginning swimmer and didn’t dare jump off that end. Others around me were talking and laughing. I heard someone say, “you too” and I was pitched off into the water. I kicked my legs and flailed my arms frantically to propel myself upward but instead my feet hit the bottom and were tangled in seaweed.

I enjoyed rowing on Deering Lake as a kid during the quiet time before dusk. The water calmed smooth as glass, reflecting the blue sky with white, sometimes pink clouds at sunset. The rump-a-bump rhythm of the oars was steady like the ticking of time. The oars dipped softly reminding me of smooth, cool ice cream. Then I could plop the oars, splash water. Water is constant. Jesus is Living Water.