Snorkeling Lessons: Learning to Function in a Foreign World

You’ve probably heard people joke that their mind is like a computer with 1,267 tabs open. I relate well to that analogy. As a person with ADD and a creative, there’s always a new tab opening in my mind.

One of the ways I’ve found to wrangle fleeting thoughts I want to remember is note-taking. (And, no, I’m not here today to give great organizational advice.) I have mini legal pads in practically every room of my house. I even bought a waterproof noteboard for the shower! And I’m a fan of the Evernote app, although I have yet to discover all of its useful features. (Again, technology.) For me, it’s enough to have a way to record my thoughts on my phone.

So it was there that I headed this morning in search of an idea for this post. And this passage really resonated with me.

Thinking about the scene from one of the Harry Potter movies where Harry is under water during a contest between the houses. How he was able to breathe under water because he grew a set of gills through magic. He could focus and do what he needed to do in that “other” world, that world that wasn’t his home, because he had access to a power that allowed him to adapt and function in that foreign world.

How much our faith is like that! This world is not our home and so often we feel like proverbial fish out of water trying to operate here.

Another example: struggling with my breathing while snorkeling, first in Cozumel where I learned and then in Maui 12 years later. How placing my face under water made me feel like I had to hold my breath. That it took concentrating on the wonders of that watery world to distract myself enough to fall into rhythmic breathing through the snorkel and release the feelings of panic.

Sometimes life makes me feel like I’m concentrating too hard on my breathing and I’m soon going to be choking on inhaled water because it’s oh, so scary and oh, so much work! I need to let go, give up my grip on control, let things unfold, enjoy the beautiful scenery, trust I am equipped to survive in this other world. God gives me the gills I need. A very natural adaptation for a totally abnormal experience. Always the tension between the two worlds we Christians inhabit, this one and the one to come.

I need to let go, give up my grip on control, let things unfold, enjoy the beautiful scenery, trust I am equipped to survive in this other world. God gives me the gills I need.

Jamie Linn Brummel

If you are a Christian and you’re struggling under water, let me offer some advice.

• Learn to “surface” in your spirit. This takes practice but it’s as simple as shifting your perspective from what is preoccupying you to being aware of God’s presence. He has promised to never leave us, so of course He swims alongside us! The more you become aware of His presence, the more strength you will gain.
• Remember to clear your breathing tube. While snorkeling, water sometimes splashes into the breathing tube. If inhaled, it will cause you to choke. Sin has the same effect in our lives. The cure for both problems is to immediately blow it back out with force.
• Keep your vision clear. A foggy snorkel mask not only deadens the beauty in front of you, it can prevent you from noticing the danger around you. Spitting in your mask remedies this problem. Spitting in the face of the enemy with the truth also clears the fog from your vision.
• Let go and float. When the rigors of swimming against the current become too much, stop and do the deadman’s float. “Be still and know that I am God,” the 46th Psalm exhorts. When we reach the end of ourselves, we reach the beginning of an infinite God who promises to renew and restore us.

God has equipped us to swim in a world that often feels scary and overwhelming. May our struggles remind us that we are merely passing through to the celestial shore.

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14, English Standard Version).