Stagnant Existence

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12 ESV

It was terrific to get out of the house this weekend. Since the pandemic, like most, I have stayed close to home.  However, this weekend, I took a half-day trip just an hour and a half away to a popular landmark. I have never been, but almost everyone I know has, so I thought I would take a friend and check it out. 

The Lost Sea was discovered in 1905 by a thirteen-year-old boy. Though the caverns themselves were well known to the Native Americans in the area, the water body was unknown until a drought exposed a small opening. Filled with curiosity, the young boy pushed his way into the opening.  A chamber filled with blackness stretched out before him. Tossing a rock into the dark, he heard the plunk of the rock hitting the water’s surface.

Extensive exploration has proved the caverns are void of life. Today only a few bats visit the chambers that are not part of the tour. Rainbow trout, introduced in the late 1960s, is the only life that live 14 stories below the surface. The trout were stocked in the cavern to see if the fish could find a way out to a lake or stream. The experiment was a failure and the trout never found a way out of the cavern.

The trout live a stagnant existence. Because there is no other life in the water, they do not hunt but depend on the tourist boats to come by with handfuls of liver pellets. The underground lake is more like a reservoir. It does not have a current and a smooth bottom. Without moving water or craggy formations, the trout cannot reproduce. They live in darkness except for a few artificial lamps.  The lights only penetrate the inky black a couple of feet. The silence of the cavern is almost deafening. Nothing stirs. There is no breeze or varying temperature. It is 58 degrees year-round. Living without sunlight, the trout have lost 25% of their eyesight and 75% of their pigmentation. They hang suspended in 58-degree water, the vibrant rainbow skin they are named for is a ghostly gray. They are not living but instead existing in darkness without hope of anything more. 

Life without the light of Jesus is the same. Dark, cold, and without hope. Unlike these fish, you have the freedom to make choices to escape the cold darkness.  It begins with recognizing you need Christ’s love, light, and forgiveness. He can bring you into the warm sunlight and restore you to who and what you were created to be. Do not ignore the Holy Spirit’s call but come out of the darkness. He is waiting to remove you from a stagnant existence.

 Typist for Jesus

Permission to Republish by the Author. r: #276 “Stagnant Existence” www.mustardseeds.blog The Mustard SeedⒸ Written by Melissa Levi.