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| Circle Swim; a Parable about Community |
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I’m a swimmer. I swim a mile, four days a week. It’s the only exercise program I’ve ever been able to maintain. I’m attracted to a sport in which one doesn’t sweat...or at least not that anyone can notice. I don’t have a fancy, varied or sophisticated “program”. I jump in the pool, swim one lap of breast stroke as my warm up, and then I swim 35 minutes of front crawl at roughly one minute per lap, then one lap on my back to cool down, that’s it. I don’t have to count laps, I don’t have to change courses, I don’t have to watch for cars, I don’t have to endure the television that is blaring in the room with exercise equipment. I swim, and think, and mediate and pray. It’s good for body, mind and spirit.
After arriving in Cleveland I began swimming at a club that is pretty near the church. It’s a club with many amenities that I almost never used. There were two things that hooked me and kept me at the club. First it had a posh locker room in which all the supplies were furnished, with a GREAT shower and, my own locker. Secondly it had a lovely pool in which the water temperature was absolutely always perfect, and best of all no matter what day of the week or time of the day I went to the club I could get a lane all to myself. For you non swimmers, this is a precious commodity. I paid, what I considered, an exorbitant fee for these luxuries.
When at the first of the year the club raised the monthly dues significantly, I could no longer justify the cost to myself. Just at the time I came to this realization I received a mailing from the Mandel Jewish Community Center. They were clear that the entire community is welcome, they have a great pool with four lanes devoted to lap swimming at the times I like to swim, at a fraction (and I do mean a fraction) of the cost. The locker room is not as posh, I don’t have my own locker, but it works. There is really only one major adjustment. The J, as it’s called, is busy all the time. And often, not only do I have to share a lane with one other swimmer....I have to circle swim.
Circle swimming is when three or more people share one lane of the pool. The swimmers swim in a circular motion, down one side of the lane, back on the other side. I expected this would be the situation, but having grown accustomed to having my own lane every time I swam, I admit I was dreading the prospects of circle swimming. I encountered it on my second day...and I’ve been circle swimming for at least part of the time, nearly every time I swim.
Once I learned the ropes, and relaxed into the routine of it, I began to realize that circle swimming can be a kind of parable about community. Here are four things circle swimming has taught me about sharing life with my neighbors.
By sharing lanes, everyone gets to swim: One of the most powerful witnesses of the early Christian Church was that everyone pooled their resources, so that the whole community would have the basic necessities of life; so that everyone was cared for and able to participate as full partners in life and ministry.
Circle Swimming makes me take stock of and accommodate others in the pool: If the person behind me is swimming faster than I am, I step back and let them pass at the end of the lane. If the person in front of me is swimming slower than I am, I can often adjust my pace to keep the circle moving. Living in community requires sensitivity to the needs, the pace, and the ability of those around me.
Circle Swimming makes the activity cooperative rather than competitive. At the club, when I was swimming next to someone it was difficult not to feel that we were competing. Swimming in a circle fosters a feeling of cooperation. How would our society be changed if we understood those with whom we share the planet, the city, the neighborhood as partners in a grand plan rather than competitors for scare resources?
When I swim in a circle I find myself working harder than when I have a lane to myself: When I’m consciously part of a community I’m inspired to work harder out of a sense of responsibility to the others in that community. In that sense members of the community bring out the best in me.
Perhaps you’ll think I’m making lemonade out of lemons. But in retrospect I realize that I held on to my private lane at great personal cost, only to discover that circle swimming provided exactly the same benefits while opening myriad possibilities for me and those in the community of the J. And in a world of rapidly shrinking resources and growing need the more we can learn about community, the better; wouldn’t you agree?
The Peace of God,
~ Martin
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| Rev. Martin Rolfs Massaglia |
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firstbaptistcleveland.org
