Here or there does not matter.
We must be still and still moving.
T.S. Eliot
There are times when your thoughts and emotions can possess you, and you do need to respond. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” When anxiety takes over, or when any thoughts or emotions dominate, telling them to “Be still,” is a helpful practice. This isn’t an act of emotional condemnation telling them, “You’re a bad emotion,” or telling yourself, “You shouldn’t feel that way,” but just instructing the turbulence in your mind to, “Be still.” It is recognizing that your peace must begin within as Robert Allen described,
We can only help make our lives and our world more peaceful, when we ourselves feel peace. Peace already exists within each of us, if we only allow ourselves to feel its comfort. Peace of mind begins when we stop thinking about how far we have to go, or how hard the road has been, and just let ourselves feel peace. Peace of mind gives us the strength to keep trying and keep walking along the path that we know is right for our lives.
A great example of “Be still” in practice is Jesus with the disciples in a storm. The story is found in Matthew 8, Mark 4, and Luke 8. This is Mark’s version,
35 On that day, when evening had come, (Jesus) said to (the disciples), “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took (Jesus) with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Continue reading “Live Your Moments: Say, “Be still!” to Your Stormy Thinking.”