"The image of floating has come to dominate my thinking about prayer more and more, because it seems to capture perfectly for me the goal towards which the whole purifying process of the dark night is leading us. If we want to reach a goal that we ourselves have chosen, we would be well advised to learn to swim rather than to float. The swimmer is intensely active and is going someplace; the floater yields to the flow of the water and savors fully being where he is. He, too, is going someplace, but that is the concern of the current which carries him. His major decision is whether to trust the tide. If he does not, he must guide himself by his swimming strokes; if he does, he can relax and surrender himself totally to the tide, and live fully the present moment.

"The problem is that we must decide whether we want to swim or to float."

To Practice: Do an imagery exercise in which you feel yourself floating in water. Feel the grace of God holding you up and carrying you along. Keep that image as a touchstone for the rest of the day.