A former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, tells how when he was a child, he spent his summers at a cottage off the Great Lakes.
And he says, for about 40 feet, the water was shallow and safe.
His brother would take him water skiing out into the deep water.
And he was terrified.
But once he was out there, he said he loved it.
And he said he decided then that that's where he wanted to live his life.
No more shallow water.
He wanted to be in the deep water.
People who live in shallow water, it's all about me.
That's kind of their motto.
It's all about my opinions, my comfort.
But people who live in deep water, life is all about God's will and others.
Commitments, those who live in deep water, make commitments that get them in over their head.
The willingness to struggle, to battle, to face challenges, rather than choose the path of least resistance.
One example is living in the shallow water.
People, one man said he seeks,
he sought success, fame, prosperity for himself.
His goals were only monetary.
And those goals overshadowed everything in his life.
His life, his wife and family.
God and the church were not even on his radar.
He became wealthy in the way he wanted to, but he lost everything else in the process.
He swims in very shallow waters.
Another man hoped to make enough money to be able to give away large sums of money to help others.
Amazingly, the more he made, the more he was able to give away.
Eventually, he left a job that gave him a six-figure salary to do missionary work in Africa.
He went with his family for three years.
He lives in deep water.
His life is full.
And almost every dimension of our lives can be lived in shallow waters or in deep waters.
Our relationship with our children, our family,
we can choose to live, like we say, in those deep waters, away from the shores, away from the comfort.
We can allow God to draw us out of ourselves into those deeper waters.
Another example.
In shallow waters, a couple wanted to see if they were really ready for the challenge of having a child.
Would a child fit into their relationship?
So they decided to get a dog as a trial effort.
Well, they live in very shallow waters.
Children can be all about making ourselves happy,
or they can be the source and object of our greatest sacrifice and investment.
greatest sacrifice and investment possible man tells of his sister
graduated from college and she'd studied hard got married had children put her
career on the side to raise remarkable children she used all the knowledge she
had acquired in college it took all of her effort she was there was no time for
herself family like we say can be all about you or about all about giving
yourself to others and those like the gospel says put out into deep waters and
lower your nets for a catch in the shallow waters we don't catch anything
in the deep waters we catch a whole whole lot
in
that's where the blessings are more than we can even imagine it's much better to
raise a family in those deep waters of faith
summer tempted to stay near the shore where there are no big breakers you can
put his little time and effort as you can and try to gain get back as much as
you can as much as possible others want to put in as much time and effort as as
they can
and push themselves beyond expectations to look beyond perks and benefits to do
what you love to love what you are doing it makes a difference it enables
you to put your whole heart and soul into it a career is ultimately a way to
serve others vocation is a way to serve others and like we say God calls us to
those deep waters
I can't wait to see you next week. God bless you.
we say it's comfortable to hang around by the shore but but sometimes God is
inviting us to those deep waters even people who make great sacrifices can
make great sacrifices for themselves or for others like the the Olympians will
be watching those games over the next few weeks and and they can acquire great
friendships and loyalties through through those great sacrifices they've
made
much more important than the superficial goals of winning a gold medal or
notoriety and there's a t-shirt that says I believe that life is more than
survival
I believe the heart is more than a muscle I believe that we can know right
from wrong
I believe in the cross of Jesus Christ
what is it that you believe that
that t-shirt is won by those who walk in in deep waters that that deep water of
faith those who are willing to go in beyond their head
ok that they're willing to to trust that God will sustain them every step of the
way there's a little phrase that says that first we jump then we get our wings
first we make that effort first we step out in faith
and then God kind of lifts us up and carries us mother angelica likes to say
that courage is having one foot in the air and a very queasy feeling in your
stomach but it means acting in spite of that fear so we pray that we may have
that that moral courage to live our lives in those those deep waters put out
into deep water and lower your nets for a catch
you