TRUST

"I still believe, though these cracks you'll see...when I'm on my knees I still believe."- "Holland Road"-Mumford & Sons

The father and his three small children lumbered down the rolling hill in back of the lake house, eager to plunge into the warm, crystalline waters that beckoned like a loving mother calling her children home. The kids giggled as they dropped towels, tripped, and rolled toward the precipice that hung over the water. The old, rambling house-more of a cabin, really, did not have a dock or a pier-the only way to enjoy the lake was to jump from a gnarled old, decayed and splintered oak tree that snarled from the precipice.

As all four neared the edge, the barrel-chested father effortlessly dove in. The children held their breath, as they anxiously awaited his surfacing. He emerged, laughing and looked to his offspring with kindness and a desire for them to join him. The oldest boy, a weed of an eleven-year old-all limbs and blond hair that grew unruly inches with each waking moment-pressed his back up against the tree in fear.  "Come in, son," the father bellowed in laughter, "It's amazing! Trust me-I won't let anything happen to you." The son's fear melted into courage, and he jumped. Although he skinned his knee as he landed on a mossy rock, he threw his hands around his father's neck, and tittered with excitement. 

The nine year old boy, a condensed version of the eldest, took his brother's place at the tree, and stood anxiously. "How do I know I won't get hurt?!", he demanded. "You don't," his father replied gently, "But know that if you do, I will make it better. And, the recovery from your injury will help you to become less afraid-of jumping again, and of swimming through this beautiful lake." Unconvinced, the boy backed up to the split in the tree, as dirt and rubble launched carelessly from the hillside.

The father, still smiling at his scared son, turned to his brother. "I think I may need your help with this one," he whispered mischieviously. "But, you're our dad? If you can't make him do it, how can I help? I was scared too-I only got in because I stopped looking down, and just looked at you. If I didn't see you, I'd still be up there too," the boy replied.  The father gave his son a playful noogie, and threw his arm around his shoulder, "That's just what will convince him. You're right-I'm 'dad'. He thinks that I'm not scared of anything! But when he knows that you were just as afraid, and that you now could never imagine not enjoying this lake, he'll be convinced...that he'll be okay...that the jump will be well worth it."

And so, the boy shared his fear with his younger brother, and smiled as he told him, "You're my brother. I love you and won't let you drown. And once you're in here, you've got Dad! He'll look out for us both, and will help me to look out for you." The nine-year old shook his head in hesitation, but as his father opened his arms toward his son, the boy was no longer afraid, and in he went. 

The trio splashed and horsed-around, as the youngest, a wisp of a seven year-old girl, made her way to the tree's base. She nervously chewed on the end of her braid, and looked down toward the water. "Come in!," the brothers cried in unison. "It's so much fun, Sam! And Dad won't let anything happen to you!" In a split second of bravery, the girl edged to the base of the tree, but when she saw her father and brothers moving further along in the water, her fear erupted like a volcano, and she jumped up to the hanging branch of the oak, where she hung, clinging to its peeling bark.

Her brothers pled with, taunted, and finally, cajouled her, but continued to play and swim. Her father gingerly glided toward the bottom of the precipice, and closer to his daughter. "Ah, Sam. Trust me. You and your brothers are in this together-they'll help you, and I will protect you." Sam began to cry-a heart-rending, snot-producing cry. "They WON'T help me! They-they said they would, but as soon as I needed them, they forgot about me! They're having fun, and they don't care that I'm scared. They don't care that I'm alone." 

The father made his way to the steep embankment, and began the climb up toward his little girl. She continued to cry, and began to lose her hold on the tree, cutting her hands and knees in the process. So, consumed with fear, she concentrated on her grip and did not see her father coming behind her. "I-I wanna come in, but I'm scared. And I need you, Daddy-I can't do this all by myself!" The snot continued to fly, the tears cascading, and  Sam concentrated all of her energy on holding on to the gnarled, old and dead tree, as her father appeared behind her. Sam's misery consumed her, and she still could not see him. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I wanna trust you, but I'm scared I'll get hurt. I'm scared no one will help me. I'm scared you'll leave me alone to drown."

At that moment, the father reached the tree and tenderly grabbed his daughter as he bathed her in kisses, and cried with her. "It's okay, Sam. It's okay. You're my daughter-I love you more than anything in this world, and though your brothers may mess up from time to time, and may leave you-I will never, ever leave you. And I want you to be able to enjoy the lake, too!" And with that, he hugged and squeezed her, and, placing her on his back, dove back into the lake.