“IN THE SWIM”—WHAT? WHO?
By Parrie L. H. Roberson
BY PARRIE L. H. ROBERSON. This slang phrase very appropriately expresses a much-sought-for position in fashionable society. Just what the expression means we may more fully appreciate after trying the use of a rather homely, though very natural, method of illustration. Gather a cluster of ripe wheat heads, rub briskly until the wheat and the chaff separate, and throw all into a pail of water. There! what do you see “in the swim”? Why, you can see nothing but the chaff, for the wheat is lying quietly on the bottom of the vessel. The pretty white caps of ocean foam glide beautifully over the dark, heaving billows, but the coveted pearls of great price are away down in the deep sea. Now let us turn and go over to that vat of boiling molasses, and see what we find upon the surface there. Well, here we see the scum “in the swim,” rising and riding triumphantly over the pure, sweet syrup. So we find the worthless chaff, the light ocean foam, and the filthy scum all occupying the same exalted position. If you feel envious of those who are in the high swim of popularity, remember it is usually just the light, impure nothings that float upon the surface—only gaudy bubbles of emptiness. Why should you envy them? Rather let pity take the place of envy: “Let not thine heart envy sinners; but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.” Prov. 23:17. “Few and evil are our days” and “our years are as a tale that is told.” If our life is full of vanity, it is “like the chaff, which the wind driveth away.” “As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.” Ps. 103:15, 16. Thus the psalmist beautifully illustrates and yet seems to sadly lament the frailty of mortal man. Now let us return to our vessel of water8containing the wheat and the chaff. Look again and observe more closely; you may see something else “in the swim.” Examine very carefully; it is difficult to distinguish this rather unnatural substance from the chaff, inasmuch as its position is precisely the same. You have decided that it is imperfect wheat; you are right; every swimming grain is dwarfed and shriveled. But it seems very inconsistent for it to have the form of wheat and yet hold the same position as the chaff. But the reason for this is obvious; it is simply because it has not weight enough in itself to hold it down where the wheat properly belongs. Not one floating grain contains the germ of life. Would it be amiss for us to use these faulty grains to illustrate the moral worth of those spoken of in 2 Tim. 3:5, as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”? Paul, after giving Timothy a full description of the above-named classes, gives him this wholesome advice: “From such turn away.” But before we turn away from our pail, we will just tip it over and let the contents out upon the ground. There! the water that lifted the light, chaffy substance so high above the lowly wheat, has quickly flowed away and left all upon the same low level. And just as the water has flowed from under the chaff, leaving it humbled in the dust, from which it is unable to arise, inasmuch as it has no power nor merit in itself, so it is with proud, scornful man who trusts to worldly honor and earthly riches as his only security, when the uncertain waters of wealth have ceased to hold him up “in the swim;” then is he left upon his own resources, greatly humiliated. How this illustration calls to mind the words of the ancient man of wisdom, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Prov. 16: 18. “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; and before honor is humility.” Prov. 18: 11, 12. “All are of the dust, and all return to dust again.” Eccl. 3: 20. Solomon, after he had ascended to the very pinnacle of earthly wealth and fame, says: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” Eccl. 2:11. Nevertheless he again declares, “By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honor, and life.” And this wealth and honor and life will be profitable throughout eternity. Once more we will return to the spot where we left the subjects of our illustration. Several weeks of blustering, stormy weather, intermingled with frosty nights and days of warm sunshine, have passed since we last turned from our then bright new pail and its humbled contents. It is a lovely morning in May. The shining vessel has disappeared, and in its place a beautiful clump of tall green grass is waving in the sunlight. Every grain of sound wheat has taken root in the earth, and all are raising their tender, verdant arms higher each day, showing their appreciation of the warm baths of sunshine and nourishing sprays of heaven. In a few more swift-passing weeks, they will with one accord uplift their ripening heads to receive each a golden crown of glory. Yes, we see the once lowly, yet good, sound wheat now grandly waving high above the old, weather-beaten, rusty bucket; and it seems to modestly smile at the remembrance of its once helpless condition under the chaff. But where is the chaff,
The light, swimming chaff,
That prominent chaff,
That was ever on top? Well, you will hardly be able to find either the chaff or the faulty wheat, for the same driving wind that covered the grain with loose earth, carried the chaff away in every direction and to sure destruction. The same pelting rain that caused the good seed to burst into life, proved the utter worthlessness of the ill-natured wheat. What proved a blessing to the good, brought disaster to the bad. Now that we have made the chaff and the bad wheat to represent the classes of people who swim high in the corrupt seas of popularity, it certainly would be proper to use the good seed to illustrate (or represent) the true, humble children of God. When the loud-roaring tempests of adversity sweep over the true followers of Christ, and the buffeting storms of bitter persecution fall heavily upon them, then will they cling closer and firmer to the foot of the cross of their Saviour, with the arms of living faith, never attempting to sail above the cross of Calvary in the proud waters of sin; for their “life is hid with Christ in God,” and when Christ, their life, shall appear, then shall they appear with him in glory. Col. 3:3, 4. Then shall they “receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Peter 5:4. In all this we see the sure and fatal results of a life of vanity, and the uselessness of having the form of godliness while enjoying the social “swim” of popularity; and we also see the glorious reward awaiting the humble and obedient. We can not have all the pleasures of this world and the eternal glory of heaven. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” And just as surely as God exalts in due time those who humble themselves, just as certainly will he greatly humble those who vainly exalt themselves in this temporary life of sin, and their abasement will be terrible in that great day of just rewards. “When Jesus shall gather the nations,
Before him at last to appear,
Then how shall we stand in the judgment,
When summoned our sentence to hear?” “He will gather the wheat in his garner,
But the chaff will he scatter away,
Then how shall we stand in the judgment
Of the great resurrection day?” Surely we do not care to be “in the swim,” for those who depend upon the unstable waters of this world’s ocean for support, are driven about by every wind of doctrine over the uncertain and changeable waves, and in a “little while” shall pass away; and, though you may “diligently” seek them, they shall “not be found.” “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:11.