This fable is an adaptation of Bruce Barton‘s 1928 article in McCall’s magazine called There Are Two Seas.
Once upon a time, there were to seas. One was called the Sea of Galilee. The other was called the Sea of Mizrah. The Sea of Galilee was in the north while the Sea of Mizrah was in the south.
Both seas were fed by the Jordan River which supplied them with fresh water. Fishes swam in both seas. Birds flew above. Plenty of trees lined the shores of both seas. Many humans flocked to the beaches to sunbathe and swim in both the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Mizrah. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Mizrah were favorite destinations for all plant, human and animal life.
After some time, the Sea of Mizrah looked over at the Sea of Galilee and wondered how she could be better. She wanted more people to come to her beaches. She wanted more fish to swim in her waters. She wanted more trees surrounding her shores. For days, she thought about how she could attract more, get more, and be even better than the Sea of Galilee.
So, the Sea of Mizrah devised a plan. She would close the southern gateway from her body of water so that the Jordan River would flow in, but never leave. If I can keep all the water the Jordan River gives me, more fish would come, more people would visit and more trees would grow, Mizrah thought to herself.
The next morning, Mizrah put her plan in action. She shook her water so hard that big waves started to crash against the southern side of the mountain that surrounded her. Big rocks, small rocks and tiny rocks started to roll down the mountain side. It took some time, but enough rocks filled the southern exit to close it off for good.
Mizrah was happy. By closing the southern exit, the Jordan River would flow in through her northern opening, but would never leave. She calmed her waters and watched with much delight as the water started to rise.
But as the water rose, the fish that once swam happily in the Sea of Mizrah started to die. With no outlet through the south, the water just sat there and bacteria started to grow. The poor fish got sick eating the bacteria and died off one by one.
As the fish died, a pungent smell emerged from the Sea of Mizrah. The smell was so strong that no one visited Mizrah’s shores anymore. On top of that, the rising water made the beaches disappear, so the humans went to the Sea of Galilee instead. The trees along the shoreline also started to die because the excess water flooded their roots.
Now, no one swam in her sea. No one sunbathed on her beach. And no birds flew in the sky. The only thing the Sea of Mizrah could hear was complete silence. She tried to shake open her southern exit to let the water flow through again. But the rocks just sat there and continued to block the way.
People avoided the Sea of Mizrah and instead, went to the Sea of Galilee. Many talked about how drastically the Sea of Mizrah changed in such a short period of time. Soon, everyone was calling the Sea of Mizrah the Dead Sea because there was simply no life left.
“Then I realized that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:4
Other Texts for Study
- Proverbs 14: 30
- Matthew 6: 19-21
- Matthew 6: 25-34
- Matthew 7: 1-2
- 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
