I was given a copy of A Prayer for Stillness (by Ron Rolheiser) followed by 20 minutes to contemplate such prayer. What a gift! I was hit square between the eyes with one particular area of “stillness.”
Still my unrelenting need to be busy all the time, to occupy myself, to be always planning for tomorrow, to fill every minute with some activity, to seek distraction rather than quiet. Soothe the unacknowledged anger I feel from not achieving much of what I’ve wanted in life, the failure that I feel in the face of all that I’ve left untried and unfinished. Still in me the bitterness that comes from failure. Save me from the jealousy that comes unbidden as I begrudgingly accept the limits of my life. Give me the grace to accept what circumstance and failure have dealt me.
See … I had been feeling a lot of discontent and God said, “I hear you. I see your unrelenting need to be busy. I sense your anger in not doing all you want to do. I notice your bitterness and jealousy at your limitations. Now … let it all go and BE STILL.” He knows me; He knows you.
So clear, and yet so counter intuitive. Stillness trumps busyness?! Really?! Funny … God doesn’t say, “Get BUSY and know that I am God.” LOL! He simply says, “BE STILL.”
Here is the closing part of the prayer …
Still my heart so that I may know that you are God, that I may know that you create and sustain my every breath, that you breathe the whole universe into existence every second, that everyone, myself no less than everyone else, is your beloved, that you want our lives to flourish, that you desire our happiness, that nothing falls outside your love and care, and that everything and everybody is safe in your gentle, caring hands, in this world and the next.
Amen!
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Hi Ray,
Great post. Thanks.
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