A Peaceful Lent: Stillness

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 A Peaceful Lent: Stillness

My favourite part of my yoga class is right at the end. The teacher dims the lights, invites us to lie on our backs, find a blanket and get comfortable. After all the stretching and sweating, it feels good to have a few moments of stillness. To inhale - and exhale. To just be.  
 
When the moment is over, we bring movement back to our bodies slowly. Fingers and toes gently curl, and we turn onto our sides before sitting up crossed legged to end the class. After the teacher dismisses us, there is a pause before anyone moves. No one wants to breach the peace. The stillness lingers as I gather my things and walk back into the night air.
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I am so often caught in the narrative of ‘not enough.’ I feel like I don’t measure up; what I do isn’t good enough; who I am isn’t good enough. It catches me off guard, again and again, this way of thinking. It causes anxiety, restlessness, unease. If only I was more fun, prettier, more easy-going, less hard work, less emotional, less complicated. Maybe then I would be really loved and accepted. I fall into the trap of hustling for my value. I strive and struggle to prove that I am worthy of love and belonging until I trip up over my clumsy attempts and they come crashing down around me. And there I am, sitting in the dust and ashes of my own brokenness, exhausted, despising myself.
 
In stillness, I am offered a practice that helps me “live into a new way of thinking,” as Richard Rohr puts it. Stillness invites me to own my limitations. I cannot arrange for the life I want to have, no matter how hard I try. I cannot strive and hustle for love or affection. I cannot spend my life in relentless activity; I am a human being, designed to need times of rest.
 
Making the deliberate choice to be still is a statement of faith that I don’t have to prove or earn my self-worth. I am wholly favourable to God because I am his beloved child. It is also a reminder that life does not depend on me. There is freedom in remembering that the world doesn’t stop turning just because I decide to take a moment to be still.
 
Cultivating stillness requires paying attention to both our inner and outer selves. When we are physically still, we cease activity and choose rest. It is a statement of faith that our worth does not lie in what we achieve or accomplish. It is not increased by success and productivity. It is not erased by failure or mistakes.
 
We also nurture stillness on the inside of ourselves: “I have calmed and quieted my soul,” as the psalmist puts it. We still our busy minds by letting go of anxious thoughts and by bringing our attention back to Jesus. Phileena Heuertz writes, that “as we rest more deeply in God, God can rest more deeply in us.” In finding rest for our bodies and minds, we discover peace in God’s presence and deepen our awareness of his love.
 
Of course, it is not always easy to find moments of stillness with all the demands we face. We are going to work, raising children, running households, nurturing relationships, serving our communities. All these things require time, energy and attention. But as Pico Iyer points out, “the point of gathering stillness is not to enrich the sanctuary or the mountain top, but to bring that calm into the motion, the commotion of the world.”   /// Practice
Find a comfortable place where you can be still.
Begin to deepen your breath.
As you inhale, imagine breathing in God’s love.
What colour is it? What might its scent be like?
As you exhale, let any anxious thoughts be released.
 
If your mind wanders, choose a word or scripture to focus on.
You might choose, be still, peace, or simply, Jesus.
 
If this feels like a stretch, start small. Try putting on a timer for 3 minutes and sitting with the stillness. You can gradually increase your time later, if you want to.
 
Scriptures to meditate on
 
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. 2 Thess. 3:16

 

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