Life Style PARK PLACE OF ST. JOHN
Chaplain’s Corner Bankrupt I’ve been reading a fascinating study of the
strong, the swim back to shore was exhausting. We were unaware that we were fighting that strong Gulf Stream current. It got to the point that we both were so exhausted that we ran out of strength. I can still remember that panicky feeling: “I’m going to drown!” But, about the same time, my feet suddenly felt the ocean bottom. We were still a long way from shore, so how could we feel the bottom? It turns out it was a sandbar, an area where the ocean waves pile up sand. Shocked but immensely relieved, my friend and I could stand chest high on the sandbar. It was quite a while before sufficient strength came back, but when it did, we were able to swim the rest of the way back to shore. When we got there, we just lay down on the beach for a long time. We were still weak, and we needed to hike a mile back up the beach to get our stuff. I never forgot that near-death experience. That gradual and deceptive drift up and away from shore nearly became a sudden death. We had nearly experienced the quote about bankruptcy, “gradually, then suddenly,” having fun in the ocean. It can apply in all areas of life and is certainly applicable when it comes to the spiritual area, too. Having been both a Pastor and now a Chaplain for about 50 years, I have known thousands of confessing Christians. While a large percentage remained both faithful and devoted
famous Stock Market crash of 1929 and the depression
that followed, written by Andrew Ross Sorkin, a brilliant financial expert and author. Sorkin digs into the famous era with incisive research. At one point, he quotes a 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel where a character is asked, “How did you go bankrupt?” The character replies, “Two ways, gradually, then suddenly.” It’s a brilliant and often-used quote. Unfortunately, the quote doesn’t apply only in the financial area. One of my strongest memories as a teenager growing up in Hollywood, Florida, was when a close friend was visiting from Detroit. We decided to hit the nearby beach. It was a perfect, warm, sunny Florida day when we left our stuff on the beach and headed out into the ocean. We got to playing around and having fun. One of the hidden dangers off the Florida east coast is the “Gulf Stream.” Basically, the water along the coast moves north, and it can carry swimmers along quickly if they aren’t aware of it. But it also carries swimmers away from the shore. And so, without our perceiving it, my friend and I suddenly found ourselves not only nearly a mile north of our stuff, but nearly a half mile from shore. Although we were both young and
Continued
www.ParkPlaceStJohn.com (219) 351-5200 | ppsj@provlife.com | 10700 Park Place | St. John, IN 46373
6
Made with FlippingBook Annual report