Eighth Insight 

Jonathan took off his shirt and dived. He felt the shock of the vibrancy of sheer joy. It momentarily paralysed him, then he swam and plunged with all his might to keep up with his new friends. They swam
alongside him, to encourage him, at the same time ready to catch him if he became too exhausted.

He swam and played in bliss until time moved on, and it was time for the dolphins to move on with the tide. Jonathan hauled himself out of the water; the dolphins pointed their noses toward him in salutation, turned on their tails and flipped away. Jonathan waved farewell, thanked them and promised to return one day.

The boat and the plane took him home. Jonathan couldn’t wait to visit his friends at the pleasure park. He crouched at the side of the pool to share with them his encounter with their wild cousins. The dolphin took some time to come and present himself. Jonathan, at first oblivious to this change, told
him all about his adventure. The dolphin listened and sank to the bottom of the pool, surfaced again and
turned sadly away.

Jonathan felt the pain, the longing, the loneliness, the suffering and the captivity. He crouched at the edge of the pool and wept. His tears dropped into the water. Immediately the brother and sister appeared, and the three gazed at him, saddened by his sorrow. They went through the motions of diving and swimming for him, but there was a painful vitality to their routine. Jonathan spoke to their keepers about their sadness; he explained that they should be set free. They nodded in agreement but it was beyond their power.

He wrote to the authorities, he wrote to the papers, he spoke on the news. Wild dolphins are wild, they need to be free. The papers printed his story and called him the dolphin boy. The power aligned behind his cause. People demanded change. They stopped attending the dolphin displays, the stands were empty, and the park lost money; so Jonathan had his way.

He boarded the plane; so did his three friends. He took them to the island. Heading straight for the shore, he called out to his wild mates. The surf bubbled, rippled and ripped apart with the excitement of anticipation. The wild dolphins were hurrying to greet their long lost cousins and welcome them back to the wild. He released his friends. Shy at first of the ocean, they needed a little encouragement. Jonathan waded into the surf with them. After a short while they responded to the calls of their cousins and swam out to join them.

The fisherman took Jonathan out in his boat and they followed the school. They were free. Jonathan
dived from the boat and swam with them. They encircled him and played with him for an age and their rapture penetrated his soul. Then time moved on and they all swam off on the tide, all save three. Three remained and followed the boat back to shore. “Take us, we’ll come back with you, we’ll help others like you. Just for a year, then return us to the ocean,” they sang. So they came with Jonathan and he took them to the pleasure park.

Word spread, the newspapers came, the television came and the crowds flocked to the stands; the park was thriving again. Three dolphins had come to stay for a year; they swam and leaped, infecting the crowds with the joy of the wild. The families came and the people healed, and the year passed.
Jonathan did as he had promised and returned the dolphins to the ocean. Their family was there to greet
them all. Again he swam amongst them and again three more presented themselves to him saying, “It’s our turn now, take us, we’ll help, we’ll come for this year, but only one year, then return us to the ocean.”

Year after year it continued. Three dolphins would surrender themselves, to connect the people to nature, to the rhythms of the wild. The human race could borrow the dolphins, just for a while. The ocean would release the dolphins, for a certain time, in an attempt to bring all the worlds into harmony.
Jonathan continued his lifework. He was the guardian of the dolphins, he ran the pleasure park, he
helped heal those who were stuck in their sadness. He was the dolphin man, connecting society with
the voice of the wild.

At the pleasure park, people now learned that nature would always provide for their deepest needs, but that mankind must give back. Borrow, not steal or take away, for then nature could always provide
with abundance.