Swimming in an Ocean of Love

I read an account of a near-death experience several years ago. As this man told his story, he said he had the sensation of "swimming in an ocean of love." That's what Jesus must be saying in John's Gospel this week, when he prays that we will be "in" the divine life he shares with the Father.

Seventh Sunday of Easter: John 17:20-26

Picture this: It's late at night, and Jesus knows his time is running out. In just hours, he'll be arrested, tried, and crucified. But instead of focusing on his own fear or pain, he's praying for people he's never even met – including you and me, thousands of years later.

"I ask not only on behalf of these," he says, "but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word."

That's us. In his final hours, we're on his mind.

But what he prays for might surprise you. He doesn't ask for our health, wealth, or happiness.

Instead, he prays for something far more radical: that we might experience the same intimate connection he shares with his Father.

"As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us."

Beyond Following to Belonging

Most of us grew up thinking Christianity was about following Jesus – being good, following rules, trying our best to live like he did. But here, Jesus reveals something deeper. He's not just asking us to follow him from a distance. He's inviting us into the family circle, into the very heart of divine love itself.

Think about the closest relationship in your life. Maybe it's with your spouse, your child, or your best friend.

·      You know how sometimes you finish each other's sentences?

·      How their joy becomes your joy, their pain becomes your pain?

·      How you find yourself naturally thinking about what would make them happy, not just what you want?

That's a glimpse of what Jesus is describing, but infinitely deeper. When he talks about being "in" the Father and the Father being "in" him, he's describing a relationship so intimate that boundaries almost disappear – not because individual identity is lost, but because love has become the shared reality.

Love as the Divine Presence

Here's where it gets really beautiful. Jesus doesn't just pray for us to experience this unity – he tells us how it works.

 "I made your name known to them," he says, "so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Did you catch that? The love that flows between Jesus and his Father – that same love – can actually live inside us. It's not just something we try to imitate from the outside. It becomes the reality we live from on the inside.

This changes everything about how we understand love.

·      When you forgive someone who hurt you, you're not just being nice – you're participating in divine mercy.

·      When you sacrifice your comfort to help another person, you're not just doing a good deed – you're sharing in the same self-giving love that created the universe.

·      When you look at someone society overlooks and see their dignity, you're seeing with divine eyes.

The Ancient Secret in Modern Life

This isn't just lofty religious poetry. It's describing something our ancestors understood but we've forgotten: that human love and divine love aren't separate categories. They're part of the same reality.

The Jewish tradition Jesus came from already knew this. When Moses told people to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves, he wasn't giving two separate commands. He was describing one reality with two expressions. You can't fully love God without loving people, and you can't truly love people without touching something sacred.

Early Christians who spoke Greek had philosophical language for this – they called it "participation in divine life." But you don't need fancy theology to experience it.

Every parent who stays up all night with a sick child...every person who chooses kindness over revenge...every act of creativity or wonder – these are moments when the divine presence breaks through ordinary life.

Unity That Changes the World

Jesus prays "that they may be one, as we are one" because he knows something revolutionary: when people genuinely love each other across their differences, something divine becomes visible in the world.

It's not just nice human behavior – it's God's presence breaking into history through human relationships.

This is why authentic community is so powerful and so rare. When people of different backgrounds, personalities, and perspectives choose to care for each other, they're creating space for divine love to be experienced. They become, in a very real sense, the answer to Jesus' prayer.

Living the Prayer

So how do we live this?

Not by trying harder to be mystical, but by paying attention to the love that's already flowing through ordinary moments. The next time you feel genuine compassion, recognize it as divine presence. When you experience wonder at a sunset or deep connection with another person, know that you're touching the source of all love.

Prayer becomes less about asking God for things and more about aligning your heart with divine love. Work becomes ministry. Relationships become sacred. Even suffering can become meaningful when you realize that choosing love in the midst of pain somehow helps heal the world.

Jesus' final prayer wasn't just wishful thinking. It was a declaration of what's already true and an invitation to live from that reality.

We don't have to earn our way into divine love – we're already swimming in it. We just need to open our eyes and dive deeper.

The love that flows between Father and Son – infinite, creative, healing love – is the same love that beats in your heart when you truly care for another person.

That's not just beautiful poetry. That's the secret of the universe, hidden in plain sight, waiting for us to say yes.