Stillness is not simply the quieting of sound or action, or even thought. It is a yielding to love. Words become inadequate and movement becomes unnecessary.
Stillness is not a mere momentary setting aside what occupies and distracts us. Although that is a good beginning. It is a humble bow to the beauty of the Trinity, an inner gaze of love that human language cannot express. Perhaps the deepest stillness begins with a gasp of awe.
Silence is external. It is ceasing of sound. Stillness is not a ceasing, but a welcoming of mystery, like the earth welcomes the night.
Be still and know that I am God.
True stillness, is an unearned gift of God; a tender grace where our souls submerge into the ocean of His love. Like a mother soothing her infant with her heartbeat, we rest our souls into the One who created us, and are quieted by His faithfulness. Striving, restlessness, the sense of urgency and duty – these all become muted and muffled. The external noises are the clamor of human need all around us and the urgency of worldly crisis and chaos.
But even a moment of stillness can reorient our soul like a compass. Shoulders lower, hands open. Eyes close. Breath deepens. And we shift from what we can do to who we are. This is the eternal calm that nourishes our innermost being. This is the place of union with the Holy Spirit. Fear does not speak here, shame cannot enter. Guilt has no influence. Anger has no fuel. Only love saturates this atmosphere of stillness.
Stillness is the inner chamber of encounter, of intimate friendship with God. He waits for us to enter in.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know
Be still.
Be.