A Parable

A parable

BY: Dominic Ciolli
On the calamitous sea, a scared little boy is adrift.  He clings to a piece of wood.  He hopes that it is a mighty tree on which he will be safe.  But he is terrified that it is nothing but a rotting plank, which will splinter and leave him with nothing.  His hope that it is a tree prevents him from searching for something else to rely on; his fear that it will splinter prevents him from checking its strength.  But at last he sees the shore of a distant beach.  "I am almost safe," he thinks, "I can get there on my own."  So he lets go of the wood and tries to swim ashore.  And he drowns, alone.