Parable of the Ocean

Water is usually a symbol of good things, but in this case, it isn't. 

We are born into a world where we are separated from God. God is likened unto the Sun, and the separation that we can't overcome on our own is the distance between the top of the ocean and the Sun. Where exactly we are born is not the point of this parable, but I would say that we are born on the surface of the ocean - untainted and clean, enjoying the full brightness of the Sun. 

As we grow, we fluctuate in depth, according to our choices. We can choose to love God, love the light and warmth of the Sun, and be as close to Him as we can get. Or, we can choose to love things other than God, and to crave darker levels. Most of us find a comfortable level, where we can see the light above us, but we are still fairly deeply involved in the worldly things around us. We don't feel like we're too far off from the surface, we can see pretty clearly with the light that we have. 

Joseph Smith said that as we draw closer to God, we begin to see more clearly. That is what prompted this parable. As we repent, as we draw closer to God and move up to a more shallow level of water, we see how much we couldn't see at our previous level, and wonder how we ever felt that we were doing good at that level. Things are more clear, there is more light, more warmth, we have a greater understanding. 

We are never able to just stay. We can tread water, do all that is needed to keep ourselves at the level we're at without working too hard to get to a higher level. But if we ever STOP doing anything, we immediately start to sink, and have to work to re-attain levels we'd already been to. 

There are those who are bottom dwellers; eventually they become so accustomed to the dark, they don't notice the lack of light. I imagine those fish I've seen pictures of on Nature, with the large eyes and washed out colors. And, I see Satan as that monster fish from "Finding Nemo", with his own false light, trying to draw people near to him with his fake-out, hoping to get them close enough trap them permanently. 

Repentance is what moves us up, creates buoyancy, enables us to free ourselves of what is dragging us down. True repentance is not simply a change in behavior, but involves efforts to draw closer to God. Without that effort to draw closer to God, it isn't repentance, it is just change, and no matter how positive that change may be, it is not true repentance, and has no bearing on our eternities. (I am paraphrasing a quote from my Gospel Doctrine manual, I'm too lazy to actually go and get it to see exactly who it was.)

The main visual I have from this parable is the effect deep water has on light, and how moving closer to the surface makes sight more clear, but that we may not realize how much our sight is effected until we receive a greater portion of light and truth.