Stillness is quite a word actually, especially in today's world. I mean think about it. In a matter of five minutes how many times are you distracted-most likely by an electronic device of sorts? So, when you find yourself gravitating towards (or craving in most circumstances) stillness you discover it's a little more uncomfortable than you anticipated.
I'm learning there is a huge difference between resting and stillness. Who doesn't absolutely love a lazy Saturday in your comfy clothes with no where to go and only the endless episodes stored on your DVR? Being curled up on the couch with a much needed glass of wine sounds so inviting...that's resting!
Stillness is different. I'm not sure I've found it in it's purest form yet, but I'm learning it is being truly quiet within yourself; Listening...Deeply listening. A few years ago (2011, I think) I heard "Quiet Your Mind" by Zac Brown Band. This one lyric literally cracked open my heart and shifted my soul like an earthquake. Ready? I'll share it, but you might want to sit down for this one...
"If you're too busy talking, you're not busy listening, to hear what the land has to say. Quiet your mind."
I have a confession...for years I thought it said, 'to hear what the LAMB has to say;' LAMB meaning the Lamb of God-Jesus! When I discovered the actual lyric I couldn't help but laugh at how the words shifted in their translation to my aching soul!
Over the course of those following years, my life changed at it's foundation. My work/life balance scale pointed more towards family and away from it's previous dominance favoring work, I returned to the Catholic church and began attending Mass weekly, discovered running, and I fell deeper in love with my husband and our family. However, the most important shift was my true understanding of God's grace and that despite a lifelong struggle with feelings of abandonment His grace, His love, included me.
So, now here I am, a few years later, and my world is fundamentally shifting once again. It's not changing...just...shifting still. For example, I drastically decreased, if not almost completely stopped, running; earned a promotion at work; began actively practicing yoga; experienced shifts in a few sacred relationships; enrolled in a Boot Camp class, and left the Catholic Church (Note: Leaving the Catholic Church did not separate my relationship with God, but it quite honestly deepened my walk with Jesus). What I'm noticing is all these shifts have brought me this overwhelming sense of stillness.
God tells us in 1 Samuel 12:16, "Now then, be still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes," and He reminds us in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God!" Despite all the shifting, there is a reassurance in the stillness. There is a peace in the quietness of being still. It's a new place for me.
So as I return to writing, I hope you find encouragement. May you become your own Encouraged Believer, and may you find peace in being still.
Stay Encouraged and God Bless,
Angie
PS-As I begin to write again, I will share with you the details of all these shifts: my decision to leave the Catholic Church, why I stopped writing (especially the Encouraged Runner), and how joy is so much better than happiness!!
