the water tank- a parable

a water tank takes in water and lets it out again

what goes in may be slightly soiled
the outlet however can deliver purer water
because the sediment remains

the other day after it rained very heavily I filled up the tank
this was a bad time
the water was particularly silty

just because there is a lot of water rushing at you
doesn't mean you have to take it on board

I could have waited until the water levels subsided and were back to a normal pace
but because there was such a quantity coming down the river
I thought it must have been good

so then the tank was filled with dirty water
with more than the usual sediment which settles
muddy

when the washing came out
it was gritty
there was nothing really clean about that water
despite the beautiful fresh rain that fell

too much volume brought too little quality

so I had to replace the water in the tank
easier to say than to do
each new litre of clean merely mixed with old sedimentary water
like clay cordial

so this called for special treatment
obviously we could not continue with that poor quality water

I emptied the tank as much as possible
except there is always a section below the outlet designed to actually catch sediment
well I tell you ,this time it really caught a sediment
thick
all the water above the outlet had been let out as unusable
but what was left was far worse

but by applying smaller quantities of perfectly clear water into the tank
and at the same time having the bottom outlet open and pouring its murk onto the ground
eventually the water became clearer and clearer
until it was as clear as the water going in at the top

never again shall I take in such a valuable resource
just because it was rushing at me abundantly

it should be accepted only according to my need
and it should be pure!

an interesting thought.

It isn't too uncommon for exceptionally large accumulations (or rapid flows) of resources to have a major downside.

Just like rapifly-flowing water stirs up a lot of silt (and washes manure etc. into waterways), big spenders tend to attract grifters and parasites, granaries attract vermin...