October 1997
PAUL GARSCHAGEN . . .
Snorkeling requires nothing more than flippers, a mask, and one of those J-shaped breathing tubes. But the key is this: you take a breath of air within a foot or so of the surface and then dive as deeply as you dare. Descend and pop up as quickly as you want. It doesn't matter. Your oxygen supply is confined to your lung capacity but — except for that limitation — your movements are unrestricted. It's more or less the way whales and dolphins operate. And that's pretty much what we already knew. But Paul went on to explain something I never learned from watching Sea Hunt.
The air tank(s) worn by a scuba diver sets him free from having to surface every time he wants to inhale. But that doesn't mean he enjoys unrestricted movement under water. Breathing and depth have to be closely monitored.
Here's the "scub." The pressure of the water on your body AND on the air IN your body increases with depth. If you're snorkeling, the chest full of air you inhaled at the surface is compressed as you dive, and then expands again as you come up. No problem.
But the air a scuba diver inhales from his tank under 66 feet of sea water takes up only one third the volume it would at the surface. So, if Paul took a deep breath at 66 feet and then — without exhaling — swam quickly to the top, his lungs would literally explode! Painful thought.
On the other hand, a diver at 66 feet who's air tank is empty and who feels as if he's out of breath can — if he has the presence of mind — simply swim slowly upward, exhaling slowly as he goes, and the decreased pressure will actually cause less air to give him more oxygen. Neat, huh?
The need to know all this stuff is the reason folks have to be certified in order to get air tanks filled and go scuba diving. And if sane people understood the potential hazards they would want to take the time and energy and effort that's required to be certified in order to protect their own health and welfare.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
All Scripture is God-breathed and is use-ful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The oxygen for our spiritual lives comes from God, Himself, through the Bible. Think of God's Word as an air tank for living in an environment — this fallen world — in which we would otherwise suffocate.
But in the same way that a novice diver risks his life if he tries to use scuba equipment without instruction, a person who hasn't learned how to use the Bible endangers his soul. How else can you explain the fact that folks, who claim to live by the Bible, drink poison in order to rendezvous with a spaceship that hovers near a comet?
The point is clear and simple: we must invest whatever time and energy and effort are necessary to pursue Christ and a proper understanding of the Scriptures. And that's one of the primary purposes of our gatherings on Sundays and Wednesdays. Thank you so much for your attentiveness as we do that week by week!
Oh yeah . . . bring your own air tank.
Diving deeper with you,
has recently become a certified scuba diver and, over a recent lunch, he was explaining to me the finer points of difference between this sport and snorkeling.
Richard