Amarendra Mishra
I often wondered that the selfish nature of the Dead Sea teaches us a lesson. An incident prompted me to pen down an analogy in the wake of the upcoming Joy Of Giving Week. I observed one of my very close colleagues is ever ready to help others in spite of her own infirmity and unfavourable conditions. Her inspiring line ” What is the purpose of life if I am not able to help some one” intensely moved me to look at life from yet another perspective that giving is not dependent on ability but on one’s attitude.
As you all recall the Dead Sea is really a lake not a sea. It’s so high in salt content that the human body can float easily. You can almost lie down and read a book! The salt in the Dead Sea is as high as 35%-almost 10 times the normal ocean water. And all that saltiness has meant that there is no life in the Dead Sea. No fish. No vegetation. No Sea Animals. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea. And hence the name: Dead Sea.
While the Dead Sea remains etched in the memory of all, no body recalls learning about the Sea of Galilee. If one hears the tales about the two seas one is intrigued.
Turns out that the Sea of Galilee is just 141 kms north of the Dead Sea. Both the Sea Of Galilee and Dead Sea receive water from river Jordan.And yet they are very very different.
Unlike the Dead Sea,the Sea of Galilee is pretty, resplendent with rich colourful marine life. There are lots of plants and lots of fish too. In fact the Sea of Galilee is home to over twenty different types of fishes.
Same region, same source of water, and yet while one is full of life, the other is dead.How come?
Here is apparently why. The river Jordan flows into the Sea Of Galilee and then flows out. The water simply passes through the Sea of Galilee and then out-and that keeps the sea healthy and vibrant,teeming with marine life.
But the Dead Sea is so far below the mean sea level, that it has no outlet. The water flows from River Jordan but does not flow out. There are no outlet streams. It is estimated that over seven million tonnes of water evaporate from the Dead Sea everyday. Leaving it salty.Too full of minerals making it unfit for any marine life.
The Dead Sea takes water from the river Jordan and holds it. It does not give.
Result? No life at all. Think about it.
Life is not just about getting. It’s about giving. We all need to be a bit like the Sea Of Galilee. We are fortunate to get wealth, knowledge, love and respect. But if we don’t learn to give, we could all end up like the Dead Sea. The love and the respect, the wealth and the knowledge could all evaporate like the water in the Dead Sea.
If we get the Dead Sea mentality of merely taking in more water, more money, more everything the results could be disastrous.
Good idea to make sure that, in the sea of your own life, you have outlets-many outlets. For love and wealth and everything else that you get in your life, make sure that you just don’t get, you give too.
Open the taps. And you will open the flood gates to happiness. Make that a habit. To share. To give.
(The author is Principal K C Public School Jammu)
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