the power of stillness

　

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

-1 Kings 19

I’m currently in san juan del sur, Nicaragua… a beautiful place on the pacific coast. I’m going to a language school

http://www.nicaspanish.com/ , trying to surf and see as much of this town and country as possible. I wake up, eat breakfast, have class for 4 hours, eat lunch, go to the beach to rest my brain, attempt to surf, go on my evening run, come back to the house and shower, study, eat, and then go enjoy the fresh air and walk around town.

My experience has been amazing, I have new friends, I’m learning more and more about the culture and history everyday. The food is great, the fresh fruit… even better, the lifestyle here is… as they call it… ‘tranquilo.’ I get to drink amazing coffee to start off my day, get some sun on my pasty body and speak Spanish everyday! What a tough life right?

However, yesterday I was confronted yet again with something I have always struggled with… being still. Sitting in one place, stillness, and allowing myself to reflect on what is going on not only with the world around me, but within me.

If you know me, you know I like to be on the move, one place to another… never spending too much time in one place and always having to do something. This constant movement has pre-occupied my soul and I haven’t been taking to time to be present with myself or the things around me. As you can see by my schedule here, I have not created much time to just be… I have not heard the voice that moves in the silence.

Henri Nouwen’s words gives beautiful imagery to this feeling…

Without prayer we become deaf to the voice of divine love and become confused by the many competing voices asking for our attention When we try to become very still, we often find ourselves so overwhelmed by our noisy inner voices that we can hardly wait to get busy and distracted again. Our inner life often looks like a banana tree full of jumping monkeys! But when we decide not to run away and stay focused, the monkeys may gradually go away because of lack of attention, and the soft gentle voice calling us may gradually make itself heard.

-Henri J. M. Nouwen

　

We all have crazy lives, busy schedules and never enough time… but is it possible to be still amongst the chaos for just a few minutes?  To actually meditate, to just be with the Father and yourself. To reflect on what is going on in your life… where you are, what youre doing, what you want to do, where you find God, how He is speaking to your soul, confronting those dark places in your soul which are the reasons for all of the distractions. I’m describing my life… if I don’t have to time to think or reflect, I don’t have to deal with it. However I must quiet myself to truly know myself

This reminds me of a quote from David Benner in ‘The Gift of Being Yourself’:

“Still, Christian spirituality has a great deal to do with the self, not just with God. The goal of the spiritual journey is the transformation of self. As we shall see, this requires knowing both our self and God. Both are necessary if we are to discover our true identity as those who are ‘in Christ’, because the self is where we meet God. Both are also necessary if we are to live out the uniqueness of our vocation.”

Stillness is required amidst the chaos if only for just a a few moments. Whether your chaos is a job, a family, adventures, traveling, social lives, etc.. take a few moments to just quiet your soul. Like Benner says, spiritual development is the knowing of yourself and the knowing of God, they go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other. By knowing yourself, you are able to know God and by knowing God you are able to know yourself. The knowledge of both comes from this stillness.