Be still...

Did you laugh at the irony of the title?  Really... you want me to be still?  Don't you know I am a parent, a wife, a husband, employed with more than I can do today?  Don't you know that toddlers never sit still? that third graders have swim practice and homework and something that keeps them from sitting in their chair more than 2 minutes?  Don't you know that Christmas is just around the corner and the list is longer than the hours and the energy between now and then?

Yes, I know. 

And still... there is this.

The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

                               Psalm 46:7-11

 

 

This section of the Psalm starts and ends... The Lord, Almighty is with us.

Emmanuel... God, with us.  But how will we know, we ... who scurry and worry, we ... who count on our own labor, our own efforts, our own plans to bring about Christmas, know that he is with us, that he has come.

 

In the beginning.... God is with us.  In the end... God is with us.  In the middle, let us be still even for  a moment and know.

 

Yesterday, in the still moment of a stop light, I had the time to contemplate a tree, only just now unburdened of its leaves.  I had time to remember the fullness of its branches in summer and the dazzle of its autumn transformation.  I had time to imagine its spring budding.  But for now, it rests.  Oh... for a season of rest!  What wonderful ways we would bud in the spring.  What things God would grow in us!

 

Unlike the tree, we do not have a winter to rest, but what if we took a moment, to be still and know God who so wants to know us, that he came among us?

 

Prayer

Try this prayer, by yourself, with your spouse, or with your child.  Sit still (this may take some practice).   You may want to light a candle to signal the quiet time for all who are praying,  hold a piece of your nativity scene, or contemplate a meaningful piece of art.

While breathing quietly, speak the following lines slowly, waiting in the silence at the end of each line, enjoying this time in the presence of the one who is with you always.  Bask in God's love for your being... not your doing.

 

               Be still and know that I am God.

               Be still and know that I am.

               Be still and know.

               Be still.

               Be.

 

 

Still, Still, Still (link to the song)

Still still still
let all the earth be still
For Mary in her arms enfolding
Hope of all the world is holding
Still still still
let all the earth be still