A Place at the Table - 15 - Stillness
A Place at the Table - 15 - Stillness
When my life is distracted, when I flip from task to task and nothing piques my interest, remind me, God, to look to You. When I am discontented with what has been given to me and I can’t see others because I am so far away within myself— remind me, God, to come before You. Remind me to look toward You and breathe deeply. To let You hold me and speak to me about the distractions. Thank You for all of the gifts You have given me. As You remind me of Your place in my life, may all the distractions fall into theirs. Let me see my shortcomings clearly, God. Show me all the sins You have covered for me so I would not be afraid to seek the path of redemption. Remind me that You are plentiful. That You are more than enough for all, that You meet me in intimate ways even as I divert myself. Amen.
——
I told a friend the other day that one of my favorite times is a snowfall at night. I love the absolute quiet and stillness that a night after the snow has fallen feels and sounds like. There’s a beautiful stillness that is wondrous as the world quiets down and the snow absorbs all other noises. Its hard to find that kind of stillness though each day. The hamster wheel keeps running, emails “need” to be checked, Facebook statuses updated, meals to be cooked, to-do’s to be done, and the list goes on and on. Even when we try to be still, its hard to quiet things down. Seay talks today about different kinds of restlessness - a restlessness that leads to further circles of distraction or a restlessness that leads to instruction. When we are still and can move beyond the hamster wheel and be moved to the instructive kind of restlessness, we can hear the voices of those that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 55 (as quoted by Seay):
Eternal One: If you are thirsty, come here; come, there’s water for all. Whoever is poor and penniless can still come and buy the food I sell. There’s no cost— here, have some food, hearty and delicious, and beverages, pure and good. I don’t understand why you spend your money for things that don’t nourish or work so hard for what leaves you empty. Attend to Me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest, most delectable of things. Listen closely, and come even closer. My words will give life, for I will make a covenant with you that cannot be broken, a promise Of My enduring presence and support like I gave to David, See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander among the nations. Now you will issue a call to nations from all over the world— people whom you do not know and who do not know you— They will come running, because of Me, your God because the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel, has made you beautiful.