iStock/Lux_D

At the pool where I swim, they sometimes open lap lanes adjacent to the diving pool. A young team of divers regularly trains there, and it’s hard not to stop swimming laps and just watch them practice. It’s a beautiful sport and its disciplines are always teaching me something.

I think of one young woman’s routine. First, she walks to the end of the diving board and stands there a while. I assume there is a mental exercise taking place in this moment. Maybe she is imagining her dive, playing out perfect execution in her mind. But it’s noticeable, there’s something settling about this practice. You can see a calm focus fall over her in this deliberate pause.

Then, when she’s ready, she pumps one leg and raises her arms, springs from the board, and takes flight. She jumps into the pool straight and light as a pencil, arms reaching skyward, toes pointed down. Before one acrobatic twist or turn or flip is added, she will spend quite a number of dives repeating this same, seemingly simple exercise: to jump into the water as perfectly straight and vertical as possible. Again and again, slipping into the water with barely a splash, plummeting quietly into the deep.

It is not until after she has completed this exercise multiple times that she moves on to the next simplest maneuver: a long, arcing swan dive. She seems to hang in the air forever, tipping her body forward with an easy self-control and again, slipping into the water with barely a splash, plummeting deep and quick. Once that exercise has been completed perfectly a few times, she will then throw in a twist, perhaps a flip, a tuck or reverse.

It is good to remember that the simplest move still takes her quickly into the deep.

Sometimes the things the Lord asks of us can feel like a reverse tuck and pike with a twist, a high-degree-of-difficulty-kind of high dive, something so sophisticated only years of training could achieve it — forgiving someone who has betrayed you, or accepting the diagnosis of a terrible disease, or that same diagnosis for your young child, or asking for forgiveness for an ugly wrong you have inflicted on another. Or, standing your ground when the world wants you to abandon Church teaching on life, religious freedom and human sexuality.

Maybe our young swimmer teaches us something in such moments — to master the basics first, to walk out to the end of the board and get settled, focused. To grow in confidence in the simplest things — praying the rosary, attending Mass and reconciliation thoughtfully and regularly, keeping the Lord’s Day for rest and worship, tending to our loved ones with joy and gratitude — before we move on to the more demanding maneuvers of heart. And to remember that even the simplest moves when practiced deliberately can still take us effectively and quickly into the deep mysteries of God’s grace.

Let’s not underestimate the power that is unleashed in practicing even the most basic spiritual disciplines, that these lay the foundation for more sophisticated and challenging spiritual works. That in their simplicity, they bear an extraordinary beauty and become witnesses to the world, unleashing grace all around us.

Lord, strengthen our foundations, help us to grow in our commitment to practice well the most basic spiritual disciplines so that we will be found unyielding when put to the test. Help us to honor the great beauty and grace of the simplest acts of faith executed with a heart focused on your holy and mighty face.

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books, including “Love Like a Saint” and “Jesus Approaches.” She travels, speaking and leading retreats throughout the country. Visit her website at lizk.org.