Stillness and Silence

Stillness and silence aren’t natural to most of us… I know they’re not for me, even when I’m sleeping :-p

But they’ve have been catching my attention lately in a way that points to God.

At Under the Cover of Prayer, Judith Lawrence wrote:

Silence is not a familiar place for many of us but as we seek to be with God silence becomes a sought after and familiar venue. (Adventures of the Spiritual Life — click to read the whole post, it’s worth your time)

This little gem from Oswald Chambers really got me thinking:

I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.” (Nov. 7 reading, My Utmost for His Highest, updated edition edited by James Reimann)

I don’t always “get” brother Oswald’s thoughts, since they’re often elevated above my own, but this sacred place in the conscious life… that resonates with me. A still place, a holy place, in keeping with the idea that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

I can see this sacred inner place being the basis for Frank Laubach‘s call to “keep in constant touch with God,” echoing Brother Lawrence‘s call to “practice the presence of God.” (You can read some of Frank Laubach’s writing here… just scroll through the page until you reach the excerpt from Letters by a Modern Mystic.) Or you can get hold of a copy of Practicing His Presence, edited by Gene Edwards, which contains the writings of Frank Laubach and Brother Lawrence. It’s a slim book and one I consider a keeper.

I don’t usually include a song on Fridays, but here’s Brian Doerksen‘s Everything. Let it become our prayer. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTAj0bM-C0]

4 thoughts on “Stillness and Silence

  1. Ginny Saumert Jaques

    I’ve been hearing a lot lately about the book “The Rest of God” by Mark Buchanan. Along the same line. It used to be that idle hands were considered the devil’s workshop but I’m convinced now it’s constant busyness! So hard to live life in balance between rest and Godly activity. And hard to put into practice what we come to see as truth. Again, you have challenged me to try to do both of those things. LOL. Imagine, “trying” to rest. What’s wrong with this picture?!

    Reply
    1. Janet Sketchley

      Oh, that’s an excellent book, Ginny. Liberating, not legalistic. It’s on my to-re-read list. As I recall, one aspect of Sabbath rest was that it made another sign or visual aid to Israel and the surrounding nations that this God is a good Master to His people, not like their previous slave masters in Egypt.

      And yes, what’s wrong with the picture indeed!

      Reply

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