Be Still

Being still is an issue most of us struggle with. Even in this time of COVID, where daily patterns have shifted, many have found new and creative ways to fill our days with stuff to do. For years, when we engaged in conversation, we would often ask, “How are you doing?” The response was often, “I’m fine! School or work is fine, parents are fine, sports are fine”…you get the gist. But according to a sermon preached by Rev. Danny Gulden last year, a shift has occurred from being fine as our normal response to “I’m busy. I am crazy busy.” Busy has become our new standard answer to the question, “How are you doing?”

In our fast-paced society, we receive plenty of signals to keep ourselves crazy busy. We drive fast cars, we eat fast food, we feel compelled to get on the fast track, to take the hardest classes, and to not only succeed, but stand ahead of the pack. When you add in our digital connections competing for our attention and our time, we have little room for self-reflection and growth.

Edward Hollowell is quoted as saying “Without intending for it to happen or knowing how it got started, many people now find they live in a rush they didn’t want and didn’t create or at the very least, didn’t mean to create.” Somehow, the pace of our lives, and the ceaseless activity around us, has left us empty and exhausted.

Many years ago, a poet, a person of wisdom, wrote the prescription for what ails us today. “Be Still. Be Still and Know that I am God.” This prophet of old is reminding us to slow down, to embrace that “Breathe” ding your iWatch gives you, at the most inopportune time of the day. We are being called to live into our own pace in life and not conform to the societal pressures that more or faster is better. Jesus never talked about crossing items off to-do lists. Life is not a competition for us to conquer or win. It’s to be lived and enjoyed. As Eyen Gardner said, “Being still does not mean don’t move. It means move in peace.” May you find peace this day, as you live into the pace God has set for you.