Truth Reflected

The water was cool against the afternoon heat, rippling against their shoulders as they treaded side by side. Sunlight flickered off the surface, dappling their skin in shifting gold.

Nathan ran a hand through his wet hair, glancing at Caleb. The guy looked like he belonged in the water—broad shoulders, solid frame, the kind of build that made everything look effortless. Nathan, leaner, wiry, felt like a reed next to a stone.

They had swum out far enough that the shore was just a blur of trees and rocks. No one else was around. Just them, the lake, the sky stretching endless above.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever shake it,” Nathan said finally, kicking slow beneath the water.

“Shake what?” Caleb asked.

Nathan exhaled. “The feeling that I missed something. That I was wired wrong from the start.” He looked down, watching the water ripple around him. “I see guys like you and I think—that’s what a man is supposed to be.”

Caleb laughed softly. “Like what?”

Nathan gestured vaguely. “You know. Strong. Built for it. Like it just fits on you.”

Caleb floated on his back, staring at the sky. “You think muscle makes a man?”

“No.” Nathan hesitated. “Not exactly. It’s not just that. It’s… I don’t know. It’s like you move through the world like you belong to it. Like you’ve never had to second-guess who you are.”

Caleb let the silence settle between them before rolling back upright. “You ever notice how trees grow?”

Nathan frowned. “What?”

“Some grow thick, some grow tall. Some are knotted, some straight. You don’t see a pine tree looking at an oak, wondering if it should be broader. Or an oak looking at a pine, wishing it was taller.” He met Nathan’s gaze. “But they’re both trees. They both stand.”

Nathan was quiet.

Caleb ran a hand through the water. “You weren’t wired wrong. You weren’t meant to be me, or anyone else. You were meant to be you. A man, as God made you. Period.”

Nathan swallowed, something in his chest tightening—not in pain, exactly, but in recognition.

“You think you missed something,” Caleb said, “but maybe you just haven’t recognized what’s been in you all along.”

The water lapped between them. Nathan didn’t answer right away. But he felt the weight of Caleb’s words sink deep, settling in places that had never quite known peace.