It was our free day. As the three teams in our town, we were headed to the Dead Sea. I was so excited!
I was expecting the water to be salty.
I was expecting to float.
I was expecting good talks and good fun.
I was expecting the Dead Sea to be a good day, but for the sea itself to be ugly and black.
So, I was surprised, when the water was so much more salty than I could have possibly imagined. It smelled; it felt funny on our skin; it burned any cuts and scrapes we had.
We didn’t just float, like you might in a pool. This water offered resistance, and it was hard to not slide over onto my side at times, or to stand up straight (which was possible without touching the ground in the water), because it was such a struggle to get my body below the water.
I did have good fun and great conversations (thanks, Shannon!).
But what I wasn’t expecting?
That the Dead Sea would be absolutely beautiful. I expected sludgy water, deep black in color, practically screaming out its own name, “Death!”
And yet, the Dead Sea’s beauty is deceiving. Yes, it’s beautiful. But it is the farthest thing from life. Drinking just 1/8 of a cup of this water will kill you, your kidneys shutting down because they can’t process it all. Fish who swim too near to the sea from the Jordan River die immediately, their fins ceasing to move with purpose as salt invades their bodies. There are no plants.
I imagine nomads were deceived at first, as well. After a long time of wandering in the desert, they come across this large body of water. Hallelujah! they might think. We’ve found a wonderful place. And then they would come near, and the smell would overpower them, and they would see the salt crystals on the beach. No, this water is no good from drinking.
And so it is with life. Sometimes, the most beautiful things are only that: superficially beautiful. Deep down, there is no life within them. There is nothing to sustain others. There is nothing lasting, nothing that nourishes or feeds. Even the sea itself only takes: the Jordan River is constantly pouring into it, while the Dead Sea gives away none of itself or what it receives.
Looks deceive. Constantly taking and never giving doesn’t lead to more life, it leads to death.
