One warm, summer day a man took his raft to the river to enjoy a leisurely float in the sunshine.  Everyone else had the same idea.  The broad, placid river was packed with boats all drifting slowly with the current.  A party atmosphere prevailed on the river with much laughing and gaiety.

The man drifted with the vast flotilla, enjoying himself very much.  His enjoyment was interrupted only slightly by a sign on a buoy anchored in the center of the river.  It read:  "Warning—Waterfall 10 miles ahead."

The man noted the warning, and determined to leave the river before there was any danger of going over the falls.  Everyone else on the river passed the same warning sign.  The man felt reassurance and took comfort from the fact that no one made any effort to leave the river at that point.  There would yet be plenty of time to get out.

All the boats drifted slowly down the river.  One craft, however, was going against the flow.  It was a rowboat.  Two individuals therein were working hard.  They stood out from the crowd not only because of their hard work and contrary direction, but because they were dressed differently.  Their attire would be more suited for church attendance than for rafting on the river.

The two individuals tried to make contact with each passing craft.  They seemed to be both friendly and pleading as they extended a rope or line to each passing boat.  No one accepted the offered line.  Increased laughter and catcalls followed in their wake.

The rowboat pulled alongside the man and his raft.  A line was held out to him, as it had been held out to the others.  He heard the warning repeated about a waterfall ahead over which the whole world would soon go if the people didn't leave the river immediately.  The man looked about him, saw the river flowing as peacefully along as it had done before, and could observe few movements toward shore by any of the vast concourse that were his companions.  He felt some inclination to grab the proffered rope, but realized he'd be ridiculed by those around him if he allowed himself to be towed to shore.  He, therefore, politely refused, and drifted on by the pair in the rowboat.

The man then became aware of people on shore.  In comparison to the vast number of people on the river, they were very few, indeed.  They seemed to be excited about something.  They gestured, pointed and beckoned.  Few paid them any heed.  The man, himself, largely ignored them.  They were not only strangers, but strange.

He would have ignored them completely, but for the fact that he recognized one of them.  The man on shore was his friend.  He was his neighbor, and a person for whom he had respect.  The man was calling to him, pointing down the river, and shouting "Waterfall."

This was the third time the man had heard the warning about impending doom.  Because it came this time from a trusted friend, the man determined to get out of the river no matter what the rest of the rafters did.

He cast his eyes about for a way to extract himself from the water.  Nothing presented itself.  He had no oar nor means of moving himself to shore.  Indeed, the current had slightly quickened as the river moved between two bluffs that formed small, ever-growing cliffs at the water's edge.

Spanning the river ahead of him was a bridge—one of several that could be seen in the distance.  Hanging from each were numerous ropes.  Each rope had a life preserver attached to its end, about head high, so that it could be reached by any rafter who would stand up and take hold.  Very few did.

The man would lose his raft and open himself to ridicule if he grabbed a life preserver, but he determined to do it anyway.  He stood up, latched onto a life ring, and felt his raft slip away.  He was out of the ever-quickening current, and was suspended above the humanity rushing by below.  Some of them made passes as if to pull him back into their midst.  He resisted their efforts, but found himself unable to lift himself to the bridge.

As he swung there wondering if he'd made the right choice, he felt himself rising.  The rope, the life ring, and he were being raised heavenward by a glorious personage—the only person capable of saving him.