Economic troubles ahead? Go deeper.

Kimberly Fletcher

An article I recently read declared that we should “brace for the impact” of a pending economic crisis. It reasoned that if one country went into default on its debt, it would trigger economic shock waves that would inevitably impact all neighboring economies.

I considered if “bracing for the impact” was the best advice for dealing with the storms of life, economic or otherwise. In my own experience, a more effective means of mitigating the impact of an approaching wave is to go deeper.

Mary Baker Eddy observes: “. . . the heaving surf of life’s troubled sea foams itself away, and underneath is a deep-settled calm” (Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 19).

Mrs. Eddy’s reference to the “deep-settled calm” under life’s troubled sea reminded me of one of my favorite pastimes, surfing. For surfers, riding the face of a wave provides a wonderful sense of freedom. However, getting through the area where the waves are breaking can be a real challenge when the swell is big. Surfers must learn to “duck dive”—that is, to take their surfboard below the surface of the approaching wave to a deeper level so that the force of the wave passes overhead. If they do this properly, they maintain forward momentum while the board is still underwater.

To me, this is a great analogy for how we can deal with the storms of life, including threats to the economy. Just bracing for the impact would make us subject to the surface conditions where the impact is the most destructive. It also is accepting impending disaster instead of moving forward under God’s guidance.

Diving deeper in our prayer and study takes us to a place of refuge from the onslaught and enables us to find the “deep-settled calm” that supports a good outcome not just for us, but for all who may be affected by the situation.

Like the duck diver, we don’t come up where we started, but move forward under the surface, using the buoyancy gained in thought to propel us onward and upward.

Diving deeper in our prayer and study takes us to a place of refuge.

There is a precedent for engaging in “spiritual duck diving.” Jesus routinely withdrew from the crowd in order to refresh his spiritual sense of existence through prayers that “were deep and conscientious protests of Truth,—of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love” (Science and Health, p. 12).

Once when Jesus was teaching by the shores of Lake Gennesaret, he spoke to the people from Simon’s boat. When he was done teaching, he told Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” (Luke 5:4). Even though they had fished all the night before and had caught nothing, Simon agreed to do it. This time when they let down the nets, they caught so many fish their net broke. They called to their partners in another boat for help and filled both boats to the point that they began to sink.

Science and Health observes: “Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material surface of things, and found the spiritual cause” (p. 313). And Mrs. Eddy suggests that we do the same.

Christian Science teaches us how to turn our thoughts away from the outward appearance of mortal existence, and to go deeper in our prayer and study. This spiritualizes our consciousness and brings our lives into harmony with the one all-good God, the source of our—and everyone’s—being. As we specifically pray about these challenges, our prayer brings a greater sense of harmony into our individual experience and also addresses world conditions.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s dive in and take deep drafts from our source, the “fount of Love.” When we yield to the harmony of divine Mind, Life, Truth, and Love, we’ll begin to know the one true God who is all good, all the time!

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