A Sign in the Park and a Warning

Share Now

On our way home from church on Sunday night, Ray and I drove through the serene Corps of Engineers park a few minutes away from our home. The park was almost deserted except for a few fishermen enjoying the twilight quiet. I had my camera with me, but didn’t take any photos of the peaceful scenes this time. What caught my eye was this sign I saw as we were leaving.

I had already noticed two other signs in the park, each with the following message: number of people who have drowned here – 33; number who have drowned while wearing life jackets – zero.

When it comes to water, it is sometimes easy to overlook the reality that we are only human and to overlook the reality that accidents happen. Last year the brother-in-law of a close friend went swimming alone in this same park. He didn’t drown, but he did have a heart attack. If that had happened while he was in the water, he might have drowned.

While I was a child, my mother and my daddy’s mother drilled the need for water safety into me, as did certain cautionary television commercials that aired in the summertime. Mother and Mama Sue did it because they loved me. I love you, so I am cautioning you, too. An average of 11 Americans die each day from drowning. Almost all are preventable.

At first glance, the sign above appears to be negative, but the message is clear and powerful. Our area of Tennessee is home to three popular Corps of Engineer lakes, and our nearby Roaring River is popular with kayakers. Just last week I read a story about a drowned kayaker who had been camping with friends on an island in an area lake. He had paddled away from the campsite to bring back supplies. He never returned. The next day rescuers found his body in the lake. He was not wearing a life jacket.

My guess is that this 31-year-old felt confident in his ability to make the trip. You have to wonder why he did not wear a life jacket. Was he overconfident? Did he think he looked more manly without a life jacket? Why did he not make the trip with one of his friends?

Thinking back on news of drownings I have heard about in my lifetime, I wondered if men are statistically more likely to drown than women. My quick research online proved that the answer is an overwhelming yes. Studies show that men are more likely to go boating, to swim alone, and to combine water activities with alcohol. They are also less likely to wear a life jacket. One study indicated that men may also be more likely to overestimate their abilities.

Children are at greater risk of drowning than are adults, particularly those who live near pools and natural sources of water such as ditches and ponds. Forty percent of drownings of 5-15 year olds happen in natural water. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children always wear life jackets and that children always have adult supervision while swimming, even when they are wearing a life jacket. The need for adult supervision seems obvious to me because:

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child . . . 
Proverbs 22:15b 

Children think like children. They are depending on us to think like grownups.

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child,
think like a child, reason like a child;
when I became a man,
I did away with childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:11

Perhaps wearing a life jacket feels humbling for some folks, but it is a loving thing to do. While a life jacket on a child isn’t enough to keep a child safe without a watchful adult right there, it can help. A life jacket on an adult might save his or her child from mourning a parent and it might even give that adult the extra boost he or she needs to stay afloat and save someone else from drowning.

When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2

Jesus came down from heaven and He was humble. He invites us to be humble, too, saying:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-20

 

 

 

 

Share Now