There are two seas in the Land of Israel. One is fresh, and fish are in it. Splashes of green adorn its banks. Trees spread their branches over it, and stretch out their thirsty roots to sip of its healing waters. Along its shore children play.
The River Jordan makes this sea with sparkling water from the hills. So it laughs in the sunshine. And people build their homes near to it, and birds their nests; and every form of life is happier because it is here.
The River Jordan flows on south into another sea. Here there is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of birds, no children’s laughter. The air hangs heavy above its waters and neither people nor animals will drink here.
What accounts for the mighty difference between these seas? Not the River Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil in which they lie; not the country ‘round about.
This is the difference:
The Sea of Galilee receives but does not keep the Jordan’s water. For every drop that flows into it another drop flows out. The giving and receiving go on in equal measure.
The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income jealously. It will not be tempted into any generous impulse. Every drop it gets, it keeps.
The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. This other sea cannot sustain life. It is named the Dead Sea.
There are two seas in the Land of Israel.
There are two kinds of people in the world.
Bruce Barton
