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There are two seas in Palestine.
One is fresh, and fish are in it. Splashes of
green adorn its banks. Trees spread their branches over it and stretch out
their thirsty roots to sip of its healing waters.
Along its shores the children play as children
played when He was there. He loved it. He could look across its silver surface
when He spoke His parables. And on a rolling plain not far away He fed five
thousand people.The river Jordan makes
this sea with sparkling water from the hills. So it laughs in the sunshine.
And men build their houses near to it, and birds their nests; and every kind of
life is happier because it is there.
The river Jordan flows on south into another sea.
Here no splash of fish, no fluttering of leaf, no
song of birds, no children's laughter. Travelers choose another route, unless
on urgent business. The air hangs heavy above its water, and neither man nor
beast nor fowl will drink.
What makes this mighty difference in these
neighbor seas? Not the river Jordan. It empties the same good water into
both. Not the soil in which they lie; not the country round about.
This is the difference. The Sea of Galilee
receives but does not keep the Jordan. For every drop that flows into it
another drop flows out. The giving and receiving go on in equal measure.
The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income
jealously. It will not be tempted into any generous impulse. Every drop it
gets, it keeps.The Sea of Galilee gives
and lives. The other sea gives nothing. It is named The Dead.
There are two kinds of people in the world. There
are two seas in Palestine.
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Bruce Barton wrote this short piece, "There are
Two Seas" for McCall's in 1928. It was also reprinted in the Reader's Digest in
1946. |
