Parable of the Boat

Posted on October 18, 2004 in Campaign 2004

“Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst.”

C.S. Lewis

On a church sign along Los Alisos Avenue in Mission Viejo, I saw the advertisement: “To be Almost Saved is to be Totally Lost”. Yes, it is true. This country of ours is almost saved. And it brought to mind this parable:

You go out on a lake with a man who pushed the rower you hired for the job out of the way and got in to do the job himself. He runs you into a submerged log. The boat nearly tips over. You fall into the water. The currents sweep you away from the log and the man in the boat follows you. You reach out your hand. He says “You’re almost saved. Swim towards me. You can make it.” But each time you make a stroke towards him, he rows the boat a little ways beyond your reach.

Another boatman rows up. This one leans over the gunwales and extends his hand. “Here, take my hand. I’ll pull you in.” His hand is in easy reach.

The first boatman tells you that once you get in the other boat, you will drown. He claims that there are leaks in it, that the other fellow is a poor navigator. So you swim again towards his boat. “You’re almost saved,” he says. “Swim towards me.” And each time you reach for the boat, he rows a little ways away.

The other man has not given up on you. He continues to row up behind you, offering his hand. You are starting to drown. Hypothermia is setting in. “It’s just your imagination,” says the first boatman. “You’re almost saved. Keep following me. I’m your only hope for getting out of the water.”

Needless to say, if you keep following Boatman One, you will continue to be “almost saved”. My advice is reach for the hand and let him pull you in his boat. Be saved.

That man’s name is John Kerry.