A Dive on the Wild Side

Three years ago I sat on a deck overlooking the Sabinal River in the Texas Hill Country and watched platter-sized turtles swimming at the surface of the pea green water, then diving out of sight.

Wrestling with a number of faith issues, I suddenly felt compelled to jump in and catch one of those crazy turtles. Some people call such impulses “movements of the Spirit,” but I’m a conservative and have no personal knowledge of such things.

Good sense reigned, and I resisted diving into the murky tributary. How ridiculous would that have been? I was fully dressed. I’d curled my hair. I was forty-two.

And what would I have done with a turtle had I caught it?

In the long run, though, logic lost out to that persistent urge. Two weeks later, having driven nine hours to get there, I stood chest-high in the Guadalupe River near San Antonio, water dripping down my face, a turtle grasped in my upraised hands. The four males in my raft looked at me like I’d asked them to run to Wal-Mart for tampons or something.

To be honest, I was more surprised than my companions to discover I’d actually plunged in, scrambled among tree roots at the bank of a snake-infested river, and come up with my very own turtle.

That day I learned that catching turtles is a lot like taking a dive on the wild side of faith. No kidding.

Here’s why: catching turtles . . .

. . . takes a willingness to learn from others who’ve gone before you. My buddy Brian gave me the low-down on the strategy he’d perfected. I listened to every word.

. . . demands patience. Our group caught four turtles that day. We gave up on the spot where a later group caught twenty-three.

. . . tests your courage. Remember the part about snake-infested waters?

. . . calls for determination. Turtles do not want to be caught and are more agile under water than you are. They’re also slippery. The only thing you really have going for you is perseverance.

. . . is exhilarating, if for no other reason than because you’ve proven to yourself that somewhere deep inside you, you have what it takes.

. . . forces you to dive into uncertain territory. You have to feel your way along, risking what's safe and sure to gain what you believe is there.

. . . will probably seem silly to everyone else. Except to those who know what it’s like to catch a turtle.

And believe me, I know.

Check out Caron Guillo’s weekly "Bad Mom" column here at New Christian Voices. You can also read her On This Journey blog at http://caronguillo.blogspot.com. And by the way, no turtles were harmed in the making of this faith adventure.