Be Still

Did your parents ever tell you to be still? Mine sure did. And my heavenly Father tells me that too. "Be still and know that I am God." I don't think He is referring to vegging out in front of the TV or with a spy novel. I think the message is to meditate in a spiritual way.

This is not my nature at all. I like to DO rather than BE. This principle is not limited to any specific religion. We are human beings, not human doings. So many things fill our time -- work, chores, family, activities, etc. It's rare to have "down time." When we do, we are often tired, and instead of taking quiet time to reflect, we flip on the TV, surf the Internet, or whatever else we do to turn off our brains and wind down.

Sometimes I take that time to talk with Bob. I like hearing about his day, what he's feeling, etc. It's tempting then to discuss "to do's," like making a dentist appointment or picking songs for our next gig, etc. It's so easy to let the focus on "doing" infiltrate our "nondoing" moments.

I once heard the concept of listening demonstrated this way. Have someone whisper in your ear while you are talking. Do you hear what the person is saying? Listening requires being quiet. If we are going to listen for divine guidance, we need to be quiet.

If you're anything like me, you have more things to get done in a day than you can possibly do. I feel like I'm always behind. I often feel like the most important things get squeezed in between the mundane things like eating, cleaning, taking care of the pets, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. As Stephen Covey says, we often major in minor things. So I think I'm going to outsmart the system. How can I shop less often and make it more efficient? How often can I afford take-out? Is there a dinner I can make in 10 minutes? Can I send my dog to day camp today? If I don't get the house dirty, I won't need to clean it as much. Mindgames.

How about this. Take quiet time each day. Meditate on what matters most. Accept that a lot of minor things won't get done, or won't get done perfectly. Breathe in quiet. Breathe out stress. Breathe. Chill. Be still.