“Within each of us, there is a center of stillness surrounded by silence. “
Colleen Moore introduced this profound thought to our retreat group as we sat together in a chapel on November 15th. These were the famous words of a beloved priest of the congregation of Holy Cross who had passed away that week. This thought caught my attention, and has stuck with me these past few weeks of total chaos. What does it mean to have a center of stillness?
Our world is inundated with excess “stuff”. It reminds me of that veggie tales video when Madam Blueberry goes shopping at the “stuff mart” and ends up filling her house to the point of collapse. This kid video carries so much truth. We are bombarded with constant advertisements to buy new things, or to improve our external look…or to get this…do that…and worry ourselves with the pressures of day to day life. Worrisome thoughts concerning what to wear, how to spend a Friday night, who to talk to, finishing deadlines, paying bills, filling out applications, what to eat, where to study…what does God have to do to get our attention among all these endless concerns? What does He have to do to get us to just….STOP.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Peace is a hard state of mind to maintain. As we entered into the retreat that weekend, we were challenged to sit in silence, to face those hard questions that we try to ignore. We were challenged to face ourselves. The theme of the retreat was five postures of the Virgin Mary. We contemplated what kind of attitudes and dispositions she modeled for us throughout her journey. This picture of the annunciation was the first of five pictures we contemplated and remained my favorite.
What did Mary our mother do differently, that allowed her to accept all the sorrows and inner trials of her journey with peace, and stillness?
“Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word.” Luke 1:38
“But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Luke 2:19
The quest to find this stillness is a lifelong battle. When Mary surrendered her plans to the will of God, she allowed him to take total control. She let go, and in doing so made herself free. Letting go of what we wanted, what we planned and what we hoped for is so much harder than it sounds. This act of “letting go” is a part of being still. I have found that it is only through total surrender to God that I am totally free from my millions of endless and frivolous worries. That retreat reminded me of that, because oh how easily I forget.
Imagine that moment when you are so struck with the sight of something beautiful that you are left speechless, motionless, left with no option but to absorb the wonder of the moment. You are almost forced to BE STILL.
When I saw my niece and nephew meet their little brother for the first time in the hospital
When I saw the blanket of stars covering the night sky in the heart of the Rocky Mountains
When I knelt down among hundreds of thousands of young adults to worship our Lord in adoration at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia
When I sailed across the Sea of Galilee, where Peter first called the Apostles to follow Him
These moments of stillness are God’s way of telling us that He is still here, living among us every day and in everything we do. Some people have an incredible gift for identifying God in the most mundane moments, in ordinary things. Some people have to travel across the world to notice God, while some people can look at the stranger sitting next to them on the trolley or serving them coffee at a restaurant and look at them as a manifestation of God’s love and presence. We are a living and breathing sign that God is alive.
Why is it hard for us to treat regular ordinary days with this same stillness? At least I know it is for me. That stillness that reflects a deep knowledge and conviction that God is alive and among us here on earth is so hard to keep. With the same sense of awe and wonder that overtakes me in the big jaw dropping moments, I want to also strive to be still in the day to day chaos of the college lifestyle, with the same assurance that God is present in every part of our daily life. Happy Advent. Be still. :)
“God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken” Psalm 46:2
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