The Fish Who Believed In Water

...Long ago and far away...in the deep, dark, coldest depths of the bottomless-shore less sea...there lived a small but thoughtful fish...who swam amongst his kind...and survived as best he could in an eat or be eaten world. If you can accept that words are merely the imperfect shadows of thought...and dreams but the desperate echoes of hope... all tugging for recognition upon the chaotic edges of a very distracted consciousness...then this fish truly existed in a simple, but desperately serious and final universe. "Hungry".."It's food-eat it!"..."Big hungry eater!"..."Run away and hide!". Fish don't really need or want a lot of words and thoughts to get along...and pondering too long and often over even those few, in fact...could get any one of them turned into "food"... before even the simplest sentence has reached a grammatically correct conclusion. it is important to note that this particular fish, while brighter than most of his kind...wasn't all that "smart" by human standards...but not quite as simple and stupid as, perhaps, we enlightened beings would like or even hope to think he was.
And so it happened one day (or rather; "time"-since there is no day or night in the pitch black endless night that cloaks the bottomless sea)...that the little fish had a momentary shift in consciousness and a thought...(Totally unrelated to food or flight)...all of which was quite out of character for a finned-scaled, cold blooded creature of the depths..."Why are we here?...How did we get to this place...What is this place...Is there anything else besides "Darkness and cold"...Where do we finally end up when we stop swimming and start sinking... AND Lastly-but most importantly...WHO MADE IT ALL-and-WHY"?!... He suddenly wondered. Being only a fish, however, these matters were quickly cast aside...since the simple creature lived "in the moment"...had little capacity to learn, remember, or understand...and actually lacked words to describe the very "thoughts"which had so suddenly flickered in and out of his limited consciousness...even if he had. Still, the fish was left with an "inkling" that something was missing...that some deep...important...mystery was gliding back and forth on the outer fridges of his understanding...riding upon felt, but unseen currents like some powerful, black finned eater...just waiting, lurking...and sizing him up as a potential future meal...
Those thoughts were cast aside,though, when the fish suddenly spied a shiny, alien-like, spinning object trolling across his line of sight..."food!...Eat it!"...and he attacked the metallic intruder in one total reflexisive spasm of ferocity. In an instant, he felt a sear of pain as he was "hooked" and yanked up ward by an unseen, but irresistible force. Despite every effort to swim, fin or thrash against the constant tug...he felt himself being drawn inexorably upward through the crushing darkness. Long seconds passed, and the upward rush increased in speed...the surface horizon ahead began to "lighten" and the surrounding water pressure decreased... until he was struggling to remain conscious and felt as if he were turning inside out with the difference between internal and external pressures.
The fish was experiencing the first throes of death as he broke through the shimmering noon- day bright surface of the sea. His last momentary visions were of sea gulls gliding above the waves...and...perhaps...he thought they might be angels...and he saw the foam tossed waves, the clouds scudding above, and blue sky beyond...and perhaps...assumed he'd been carried into heaven...He felt for the first time, the warmth of the tropical sun...glimpsed a flash of it's all encompassing light...and must have been certain he was finally looking into the eyes of God-the creator. It all ended in an instant, though. A restless, frustrated fisherman...looking down on his catch, saw only a small, boney, unappetizing, unpalatable, worthless sea creature...his seizure had been a waste of time, energy and bait..because the fish was certainly not worth keeping. In disgust, he gave the line a sudden, violent snap against the boat and released the fish from the hook. The concussion left a smear of fish blood across the back of the boat, and the watery fluid ran down over the lettering of the boat's name, which was emblazoned in gold lettering across the transom..."THE ST. PETERSBURG"...It was the last thing seen by the little fish before giving into death..Fish don't read, but even so... he didn't really have a chance to grasp the whole irony of the circumstance...even if he had had the intellectual and philosophical gifts to do so.
In that instant before drifting down into the final darkness, we can only hope the fish finally understood that there is another plane of existence beyond his every day consciousness. and that he was falling ever so steadily into the darkening, cooling, crushing depths of the bottomless sea.
It is impossible to appreciate the presence of water...when one's entire existence is spent suspended totally within a liquid world....and when even the very cells of one's body are mostly made up of the same stuff....It is not until we are drawn to a place outside of that reality...where there is no water...no darkness..no cold or pressure...or pain... that we can know our present realm of existence for what it is....and even then...our ability to understand and perceive ...is limited by our intellect,perceptions...and preconceived notions. Though the existence of such co-existing states of being may be imagined...actually experiencing those realities will result in a one way trip to oblivion. The "true" cost of enlightenment.
We, as I have said already...are not all that much brighter than the fish...and so it is best to not put all that much time and energy into trying to "define" the parameters of God and reality. It's best to be content to know that there "is" a higher power or force that acts upon our reality and brings a modicum of order (even if it is only imagined) to the universal chaos of existence. If it gives you comfort, then believe that we are all part of a great energy force flowing in and out of constantly shifting planes of reality...from the sub-atomic level of protons- electrons and molecules (ever wonder what holds all those atoms together?) to the unimaginable oblivion caused by black holes as they do their work of crunching matter into pure...irretrievable energy (where does it all go?).
I "do" know that when I have been hurt, afraid, hopeless and abandoned,... that I have been comforted by an unseen presence. There have been times when I have been hurrying along, busily distracted...and have felt the subtle tug to attention by that same source...and have been blessed with the view of a glorious sun set...cloud formation...a mother hugging her child...a shrub growing up through the crack in a stone...or some other earthly miracle. The ability to see, appreciate, and feel those moments is truly proof that "something" exists "some where" beyond our reckoning. I don't expect to understand the details of all that's going on -with in or without my understanding...because I know that I'm not all that much brighter than the little fish. Perhaps, though...given enough time...human beings will one day progress, evolve, improve...to a point where they will attain a higher understanding of the nature of the universe and of God. Until that time, I can only do my small part to help humanity along on its long journey towards the final enlightenment. If I live as well as I can..find a worthy mate,...honor and care for her and our relationship..and raise children with with love and positive values which will serve them in carrying on the genetic string (finding their own mates) Then I have done my part and fulfilled my obligation to what ever higher power exists...If there is "one" great goal of humanity...it is to survive and carry on...and, hopefully, improve along the way...One day we may find ourselves finally looking into the eyes of God...We can only hope that when the moment arrives, we are ready -and are finally capable of understanding and appreciating the answers to all of life's mysteries.