We simply have this capacity to buoy folks in a hope that floats. Theologian John S. Donne speaks of a parable of sorts that takes place during the time of the great exploratory voyages. These Spanish sailors are aboard this huge vessel at the mouth of the Amazon River, and they are dying of thirst. And yet, they were floating, without knowing it, in fresh water. We think that we rest upon undrinkable salt water. Donne calls it “a parable of exhaustion and inexhaustible life.” We can always be drinkable water for each other if we set our hearts to it. We can sometimes live our life dying of
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