The Moral Vision
Ducking Below the Waves
~ 255 ~
safely to dry land, where he was taken to hospital.
He was given emergency treatment and soon
recovered. It had certainly been lucky for him that
there had been a boat in the vicinity to haul him
out, and that he could have immediate medical
attention. But what had really saved his life was his
change of tactics when he realized that the waves
were going to be too powerful for him.
Both the young men had struggled valiantly to
survive, but it was the one who had not depended
only on physical strength but also on his
intelligence who lived to tell the tale. He had
understood
almost
immediately
that
a
confrontation of his own human strength with the
enormous powers of nature would be inane and
futile.
This is a principle which might well be applied to
the whole spectrum of human activity, for
confrontation seldom brings us anything positive.
When a typhoon approaches, even the fishes dive
deep.
