Stillness…A Possibility Worth Imagining
In 2020, I chose three words to guide me through the year and into the new decade—Serenity, Simplicity, and Stillness. A few days ago, I ran across this post I wrote in January 2020 and thought it was worth reprinting. I hope you enjoy.
Corbin Park, Post Falls. Photo by Ron Reeve
Recently, I read that the biographies of several well-known spiritual leaders told of a transcendent event the leader experienced as a child while in nature. I can relate. The earliest “spiritual” experience I recall happened when I was around five years old. The indelible memory created a longing for stillness I’ve never escaped.
It was Christmastime. Generally, my family traveled 100 miles to spend the day with relatives. This particular year, however, a hazardous Montana Christmas Eve snowstorm made travel too dangerous.
My younger sister and I received a sled for Christmas that year, and even though Christmas-day temperatures dipped well below freezing, we were anxious to try out our new present. Mom bundled us up in snowsuits, warm mittens, heavy socks and boots, no small task for any mama who’s experienced wrestling with wiggly youngsters more concerned about playing than staying warm.
I was ready first. Waiting for my sister, barely able to move encased in that bulky clothing, I lingered alone in our backyard, grasping in my little mittened hand, the cord tethered to our new sled.
Standing all alone in the snow-blanketed backyard, I was insulated from every single noise, and the “sound of silence” seeped into the depths of my being.
At that young age, I had no frame of reference for a spiritual encounter. I could never have imagined those few minutes spent on a cold Christmas day might transition more than six decades later into a yearlong theme.
Now, all grown up, living in a world chock-full of distractions, I realize I must be intentional to cultivate the spiritual discipline of stillness. Working with a spiritual director and studying extensively about spiritual practices, including stillness, has helped me learn to listen to the whisper of God’s voice and has resulted in a more grounded and safe interior life.
Psalms 46:10 is a classic verse in scripture beckoning the spirit into stillness. The psalmist wrote, “Be still and know that I am God.” I often meditate on these words, phrase by phrase:
BE STILL and know that I am God!
My egocentric soul at times needs to be reminded God is God, and I am not. Even though tempted to try and figure out what God is up to, my finite understanding can never grasp fully God’s infinite ways.
BE STILL and know!
As I become more and more in tune with God’s “still, small voice,” my mind is more receptive to attend to whatever my soul needs to learn.
BE STILL!
Rather than remaining entangled in pre-conceived notions and long-established patterns of thinking, reacting, arguing, and behaving, stillness helps me to simply listen to the Spirit’s whisper and surrender to God’s love.
BE!
With my entire being—physically, emotionally, relationally, intellectually and spiritually—stillness enables me to embrace the Divine mystery. It’s okay to simply BE present to God, others, and myself, to trust God will enable me to love even those with whom I don’t see eye to eye and will always guide me in right paths!
So, today, as we begin 2025—now half-way through the 2020’s decade—my prayer for you and me is that we’ll experience the spiritual blessing of stillness …
Blessings on your journey,
