Playing in the shallow end is fine unless you’re a diver. Divers need deeper water. If I’m going off the high board, I want there to be plenty of space below to absorb the force of my body piercing the surface. I need to be able to know that I’m not going to suddenly stick my head into the concrete at the bottom of the pool.
Now I’m not saying that splashing around isn’t fun. It’s just not as exciting as a purposeful freefall from three meters. You can enjoy lots of fun games in three or four feet of water, but none are going to increase your ability to swim. If fun is the goal, shallow is fine. If maturing your ability is the agenda, you gotta go deeper.
The shallow end has a good purpose. It’s where we can become introduced to the joy of the water. The risks are minimal, since, if we become distressed, all we have to do is stand up. Moving to the deeper end adds challenges and risk.
You don’t begin in the deep waters. You’re not equipped to handle it yet. If I’m beyond being able to touch bottom and I don’t know of another way to rescue myself than standing up, I’m probably going to drown. I need the shallows until my skills push me out to the deep.
The shallows are the elementary phase of life where I learn faith. But the goal of faith is to dive and go deep. I’ll never experience the ultimate intentions of faith splashing around with the babies. I’ve gotta decide to follow the urge to dive.
And for goodness sake, take off those swimmies!
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