By Sarah Teichmann
Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10
The writer of Psalm 46 truly knew how to express God’s power—God is God and we are not. God is exalted among the nations and in the earth.
I hear this sentiment and I think of the words to a favorite hymn of mine Earth and All Stars. Some of the verses include phrases like “Earth and all stars! Loud rushing planets! Sing to the Lord a new song! Engines and steel! Loud pounding hammers! Sing to the Lord a new song! Classrooms and labs! Loud boiling test tubes! Sing to the Lord a new song!” I love this hymn because it absolutely captures the harmony of God’s creation and all that God has done in our world. What energy! What loudness! What joy! I can really appreciate the Psalmist’s words that God is exalted in the earth.
However, I must admit that I have a slight problem with the first part of Psalm 46:10—actually I have a problem with the first two words of that verse. Be still. Wow. Is that hard for anyone else?
Are you like me in that stillness can be very difficult? I often feel that my deadlines at work, my obligations at home, and my attempts to have fun or relaxation keep me from the ability to just be still—to not have 500,000 (more or less) stimuli coming at me in one day.
Sometimes I day dream about going off to some enchanted place where there are no deadlines, phones, email, text messages, televisions, movies, newspapers, computers, radios or internet access. Now I quickly realize that I would go stir crazy if I did not have some of these things, so perhaps I should not attempt to go live in some remote mythical island. Perhaps I should try taking baby steps. Baby steps toward stillness.
I realize that the Psalmist never wrote “O Lord, help me take baby steps to being still,” but it is a good prayer anyhow. Perhaps when you and I take these baby steps to being still we will have a growing appreciation to God’s power in our life. Perhaps we will hear the words “Be still, and know that I am God” more clearly as we press onward and outward in our lives.
I pray that your day is filled with the awareness of God’s goodness in your life—whether it is in moments of energy and loudness or in times of stillness and silence. This is the day that the Lord has made—let us truly rejoice and be glad in it!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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2 comments:
The Catholic church has beautiful retreat houses/centers where you can go for a weekend (or longer depending on the location)and be in silence. Serious silence to listen rather than talk to God. They are encourage to attend once a year. No phones, tv, radios, computers, etc... It is a wonderful refreshing experience, though challenging at first.
I always seriously enjoy your posts, Sarah! As a teacher, this is something I discuss with my colleagues regularly. We complain that our students aren't quiet, but conclude that it's because they don't know how to be in that mode. Some of us have even assigned them weekend homework to spend an hour unplugged and in silence. This post really reminded me of that. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to emphasize it next year. Thanks!
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