Dive into prayer

On summer days of intense heat, it is very easy to want to jump into a pool to refresh one’s body. Others prefer the seashore or a lake for a cool dip. A friend from Germany, a former lifeguard, told me that he and his son are always looking for a place to go swimming. He knows the art of diving into inviting waters very well.

He commented that when we enter the water, it occupies all the space around us. It is so good to feel the presence of the water; it gives us joy and happiness and a sense of well-being.

This friend is very focused on spiritual things, and swept forward by the theme of our conversation, he commented that diving into the water and being totally surrounded by it is like taking a deep dive in prayer to feel conscious of God’s presence. 

There is a central point to consider here. We, God’s children, are always immersed in the healthful waters of infinite good, of divine Love, of immortal Life! We cannot leave God’s all-encompassing presence. So when we pray with our heart and mind open to God’s presence, this perspective becomes clearer and should fill our consciousness; there is such joy brought by the idea that we are immersed in divine Life, that we coexist with God. 

We are surrounded by this infinite presence, God, which the eyes do not see. Just as we become enveloped in water as we dive into a pool, so we are inspired on every side as we dive into prayer to our loving Father-Mother God. 

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy states, “We cannot fathom the nature and quality of God’s creation by diving into the shallows of mortal belief” (p. 262). In our prayers we must take care not to dive “into the shallows” by considering only what’s on the surface. This view has neither depth nor true spirituality; we must go deeper, listen to divine Mind, and give all glory to God.  

When we immerse ourselves in prayer, we awake to the fact that nothing can prevent the divine energies of the Holy Spirit, of eternal Life, from being manifested in us. We become aware of qualities of tenderness, wisdom, and purity reflected in our daily lives. 

When we dive into praying to feel more of divine Love, we include our fellow man in our mental embrace. When we dive into knowing more about eternal Life, we lose the limitations of the physical senses. When we immerse ourselves in communion with infinite Truth, we stop believing in the pseudo-facts of material existence. In this kind of prayer we begin to know absolute Spirit, and our belief in the reality of matter begins to disperse like mist. When we dive into knowing more about infinite Mind, we become more conscious of the immortal facts of divine creation.

In Science and Health, we read this spiritual definition of baptism: “Purification by Spirit; submergence in Spirit. 

“We are ‘willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.’ (II Corinthians v. 8.)” (p. 581). In this submergence, we come to know that nothing and no one can separate us from God. Nothing and no one can prevent Spirit from manifesting goodness in us. So, friends … shall we dive in?