Being the Beloved:
stories of ongoing transformation in daily life
By Lisa Alteio, Asst. Director, CFDM Direction Program
I spent my late teens and early twenties teaching swim lessons. Some of my favorite people to teach were adults who had not yet learned to swim. It was so inspiring to witness their bravery as they let themselves be a beginner and step into the pool, often overcoming years of fearing the water.
They would struggle--kicking and flailing, trying to stay afloat. But learning to back float takes relaxation. It is counterintuitive. You must fall onto your back and trust that the water will support you. The harder you work, the less likely you are to float. What is needed is to let go, to let yourself be at ease, to lean your head back, to look to the sky trusting the water will support you. It was so beautiful and fun to watch when someone succeeded, to witness the wonder and joy on their face.
In a poem that has long been meaningful to me, Denise Levertov writes:
The Avowal
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit's deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
Having spent the summers of my life in the water, floating is a powerful metaphor to me of surrender, of being brave enough to let go. Current life circumstances invite me once again to find this bravery, leaning into God’s all-surrounding grace, trusting that I am held, supported, making space for wonder and ease. Effort has its place, but I want to notice where my effort might actually be getting in the way. There are times when what is needed is the bravery to let go in trust and surrender, to learn to back float. That is where I can experience being held and supported by the unseen hand of grace.
*Editor’s Note:
The piece this month brings to mind the phrase from America’s traditional national anthem: “…the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I wonder where I am being invited to let myself be fully at home in God, bravely resisting any fearful inclinations that prevent my freedom to follow in the way of Jesus? Where, how, are you daring to let go?
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*CFDM Blog Editor, Gwen Shipley