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By Dr. Nancy Moelk
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:11
Listen here or read below.
Rushing and frantic thoughts whirl through our brains trying to catch some elusive solution to life. Our minds resemble the little hamster running on his wheel. Activity that wears you out but gets you nowhere. Ours is an age of information that bombards us continually. Many people live in their heads and are strangers to the deep places of the heart. Constant noisy distractions surround us and protect us from being alone with self.
I mentor people regularly and help them to connect with their hearts as well as with God and others. In my own journey towards inner stillness, I used to sit alone in silence at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit near where I used to live. The priests display the communion elements on the altar at all times.
I was trying to get out of my head and connect with my heart and meet God there. Here is the little exercise I used to help myself do that. I would put my hand on my upper abdomen and sit still in silence. I would focus on where my hand lay and say, "I just want to be with you, Lord Jesus, right now. I know you live in me, and I want to feel your presence and concentrate on it alone." Then I would wait on Him and try to ignore every thought running though my mind demanding my attention. Often, I would stay there an hour or two and once I stayed four hours.
One day a funny drama came to me in a vision. I was in a little speedboat. Behind me in the boat were two other parts of me. Holding the rudder was my spirit man, and sitting behind me was my mind. My mind was rudely shouting directions and being overall very bossy. Suddenly my spirit grabbed my mind and threw her overboard into the water. My mind sputtered but continued to loudly complain, boss and direct.
"What are you doing? You need me! You can't throw me out!". To which my spirit replied, "You are no longer in charge, and you will not be allowed a place in the boat until you calm down and behave!"
I gradually made progress in finding that inner stillness which is, of course, the inner sanctuary inside of us where we meet with God. Another time I will share about some of the things that happen when we meet with Him.
"Inner stillness is one of the characteristic signs of humility. It manifests itself in the absence of fear amid life's circumstances, in confidence in the divine providence which protects one from every evil:
“A humble man is never rushed, hasty, or agitated, never has any hot or volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm. Even if heaven were to fall and cleave to the earth, the humble man would not be dismayed. for the humble man is always at rest, because there is nothing which can agitate or shake his mind. Just as no one can frighten a mountain, so the mind of a humble man cannot be frightened.”
*The Spiritual World of Issac the Syrian by Hilarion Alfeyev pp. 119-120.
*My quoting of a saint or any other source does not represent an endorsement of the totality of their work but rather just a gem of truth I came across in reading their book.
*My quoting of a saint or any other source does not represent an endorsement of the totality of their work but rather just a gem of truth I came across in reading their bo