Story of Faith in Lifeguards

There once was a family who wanted their son to rely on the beach lifeguard.  He knew how to swim just fine, and usually stayed out of trouble, mostly.  Sometimes he played in waters he should've known were too rough for his ability, or in waves he should've known were too big for his ability.  Sometimes he should've avoided the undercurrent by watching the channels.  But he also enjoyed being swept away.  He knew not to fight it and always came up for air.  It was fun and no one got hurt.

But his family did not like that.  They wanted him to stay near the shore, in ankle deep waters, as a boy.  He did not obey.

When he grew, they wanted him to rely on the lifeguard, who was never on duty.  There was a stand, but no one inside.  They still wanted him to rely on the lifeguard anyway.

So the family had friends dunk his head under water and drag him underwater time after time, intentionally making him drown.  He was drowning, but he refused to call out to the lifeguard who was not there.  He was drowning, but they refused to help him because he did not call out to the lifeguard who was not there.

When he finally made it back to shore and coughed up saltwater, they stood there shaking their heads.

"You did this to yourself," they said, indignantly.  "If only you had called out to the lifeguard like we wanted you to".

The boy crawled some ways before he could stand up again.  He never spoke to those family members again.