In the animated movie “Finding Nemo,” a clownfish (ironically named Marlin) and a regal blue tang fish set off on an improbable journey: to find Marlin’s missing son Nemo (also ironically named). Dory suffers from short-term memory loss, regularly becoming distracted and forgetting what she was doing, which creates all sorts of adventure and comic relief.
When Marlin is discouraged and ready to give up hope, Dory tells him the answer is to, “just keep swimming.”
The glorious wonder of animation (and fiction) is that we can receive incredible life lessons from imaginary talking fish.
“Just keep swimming” could be summed up in the red-letter guidance in the New Testament about living one day at a time, because each day has enough trouble for itself.
In the last few weeks I’ve heard from hurting people having trouble at work, having trouble with their physical or mental health, having trouble with their finances, having trouble with relationships, and pretty much every other kind of trouble that comes to us. These situations aren’t new, but the pandemic has exacerbated many of them.
I’m not ready to find a way to be grateful for COVID-19 (other than realizing that wearing a mask keeps the cold air from hurting my face when I go outside). In many ways the pandemic has stripped off the veneer of our comfortable reality and exposed the uncomfortable truths beneath. The world in which we live is far more fragile than we like to pretend. That’s scary, whether we’re talking about the economy or healthcare or education or any other societal pillar.
Until the plumber comes and tells you a slow leak has rotted the subfloor, or you find out termites have ransacked your woodwork, you cruise along not realizing that everything is on the verge of collapse. Sometimes it takes a crisis to expose the need to rebuild and renew and redesign.
So how do we cope with the stress and the fear and the uncertainty?
Just keep swimming. One day, one hour, one breath at a time.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
