Still

The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing. John 5:19-20 The MESSAGE

I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. - John 5:30 MESSAGE

Be still, and know that I am God. - Psalms 46:10 NIV

Jesus was dependant upon his Father. Jesus needed time spent with his Father to have the clarity and the power that he needed to move into his call; to live the life that he was meant to live. He not only received power and clarity, he modeled what was necessary for us to do so. We must, as the Psalmist says “be still” if we are ever to really experience God as God. The anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing writes, "Lift up your heart to God with an humble impulse of love; and have himself as your aim, not any of his goods. Take care that you avoid thinking of anything but himself, so that there is nothing for your reason or your will to work on except himself. Set yourself to rest in this darkness, always crying out after him whom you love. For if you are to experience him or to see him at all, insofar as it is possible here, it must always be in this cloud and in this darkness.”

Are you ever still? Have you tried. Perhaps now is the time. One of the ways that Christians through the centuries have come before God in silence is through a practice called Centering Prayer. Give the following “Centering Prayer” exercise a try several times during the next week.

1) Try to quiet your mind and still your body and you rest in the peace of God. If you find your mind wandering, gently bring it back to a place of quiet rest. You may feel the need to be active in your thoughts. But remember this is a time for God to just be with you.

Set a timer for 15 minutes so you are not thinking about time – this is the last you think about time. When it goes off you are done.

A. Preparation. Before you begin, you have to get in touch with your will to desire God. Worship or scripture may help you with that. Some kind of practice that helps you get in tune with your desire for God.

B. Breathing. Begin to breath very patiently and slowly and calm yourself through breathing. It is not magical, but if you think about breathing you are not thinking about other things – it helps to simplify your mind and clear distractions.

C. Presence of God. Stay in that conscious state of openness and being with God without an agenda. Total presence. Use a prayer word to help bring back our thoughts to a place of openness, NOT nothingness. (Goal of eastern religion is nothingness, goal of Christian is openness to God) There is no significance or magic to the words. (Mercy, Grace, Jesus, Peace)

D. Distractions. Distractions will come all the time. When a thought comes “I did not take the dog for a walk,” acknowledge that the thought has come and divert your attention back to God by the prayer word “as gently as a feather falling to the ground,” gently come back. The more we do this prayer the easier it is to come back.

Share your experiences with me and with others.

Peace, hope and love

Doug