And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39
My spirit has not been calm for weeks. My waking thoughts are like gray clouds formed by the rage swirling in my chest, rising through my throat, furrowing my brow and darkening my crown chakra.
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Psalms 4:4
I had also fallen out of my morning meditation practice, a victim of my summer sleep schedule. Sensing the void, I turned to a book at bedtime--A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey.
"God beyond the boxes we build to contain our lives, the hours we track and tally. God outside of time, yet here: Come to us, relieve our ragged breaths, slow our steps, relax the red lines that spike in our brains. Tell us what is true. Show us how time rolls like calm water, let us cup it quiet in our hands.
"God, teach us to pause in this moment, to tuck ourselves into the curve of your slow arm, that we may know the miracle of now...May we see the goodness of our still hours and days, sunrises, sunsets, and the darkness where our rest is found." --Micha Boyett, "A Prayer Against Efficiency"
There, beyond my to-do lists and FOMO and fear catching my breath--a reminder to slow down, be still, rest.
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Job 33:4
The Universe continued to conspire on my behalf, leading me to watch this sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber:
(If you don't want to watch the video, you can read the sermon here.)
Pastrix Bolz-Weber reminding us to breathe, be still in God's presence.
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10
Christine, thank you so much for this. I am coming off of a few weeks of being sick. I've had to cancel opportunities and miss out on joyful gatherings. But I realize the one gift that illness has brought to me is being still. This was a very renewing post. My response can be found at: https://www.susankoehlerwrites.com/post/be-still
ReplyDeleteChris, "Be still" is more than a welcome invitation - it is necessary for survival in this world. I wrote about Psalm 46:10 also, as it is one of my life's great verses. We do need to breathe, to be still in God's presence. Thank you for the poetic prayer for us to rest in the arms of God and have the fears, troubles, anxieties, despairs melt away. I will come back to listen to the sermon but for now, thank you for your offering on our behalf.
ReplyDeleteMy post:
https://litbitsandpieces.com/2022/07/07/be-still-spiritual-journey/
Chris, your post is the light in the darkness. Be still is a topic that I still struggle with so thanks for every word you wrote, plus all the scripture readings and sermon.
ReplyDeleteI am behind with everything as well but the time I took to be still in your readings has helped me slow down and just be! I am working on my post this afternoon.
Thank you for the opportunity to be still this evening. My blog post is at https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2022/07/be-still-spiritual-journey-thursday.html.
Delete