Maddy & God, IV, 2

MADDY: Hi Lord.

GOD: Good to talk again, Maddy.

MADDY: Is it okay to get distracted? To lose my focus?

GOD: Sorry. What were you saying? I was thinking of something else.

MADDY: Huh!?

GOD: Kidding. Maddy, it happens all the time…to everyone.

MADDY: I mean, I come out here to camp and I really look forward to spending time with you, but then . . . I don’t know. . . I get distracted. I was going to go down by the pond and talk to you this morning and then these really cool campers came up and wanted to talk…

GOD: And you got distracted.

MADDY: Yeah. And then last night . . . I was going to find a time alone with just me and you and a friend of mine wanted to talk about a problem and . . . . well, it happened again.

GOD: You swim, right?

MADDY: Huh?

GOD: Swim. You do competitive swimming.

MADDY: Uh…yeah.

GOD: And you’re pretty good at it.

MADDY: Well, I do all right.

GOD: How do you do that? You put goggles on your face, jump into the water…but how do you swim in a straight line?

MADDY: Well…I keep my eyes on the end of the pool.

GOD: What if you got distracted?

MADDY: I don’t know. I guess I’d get out of my lane.

GOD: But with all that splashing and people cheering…..?

MADDY: It’s not that hard. You just focus on the finish line.

GOD: Yeah.

MADDY: (a long beat, then) I think I get the point.

GOD: Remember Peter?

MADDY: From the Bible? Sure.

GOD: You could outswim him any day.

MADDY: Really?

GOD: Yeah. He had to walk on the water to meet Christ. Then he took his eyes away..

MADDY: And he sunk.

GOD: He’d never have made it on your swim team. Maybe that’s why I called him “The Rock.” He tended to sink.

MADDY: (laughs) That’s funny.

GOD: Nobody, Maddy. No one can ruin your day…nothing can hurt you…as long as you keep your eyes on the end of the pool…

MADDY: On you.

GOD: On me. And by the way…

MADDY: Yeah?

GOD: When you chose to talk to those campers instead of walk down by the pond and when you were listening to your friend’s problems instead of being alone with me?

MADDY: Yeah.

GOD: You’re wrong. You were with me. (you smile then exit)