Being Still

While we are pausing in-person gatherings, I am sharing a daily devotion email with my congregation. I will share them here. 

Daily Devotion for Being Apart - March 13

For me this day began in stress and intensity, with a third major trip cancellation in our family life, after an anxious, sleepless night.
When the dust settled around half-packed suitcases and refunded reservations, I realized there are a lot of emotions in me right now that I have been avoiding, ignoring, and dismissing.  Mostly, for me, there is both relief and grief, in equal measure.

What emotions are in you right now?

Take a minute and name them. 

In our Lenten practice of facing our fears and trusting God to meet us there with hope, we are also invited to name whatever else is real for us.  God is waiting to encounter us in the real - we just often don't let ourselves go there.

What is real for you right now?

I took a walk in the bracing wind and bright sunshine, and I named all the things I am disappointed about. I named the things I feel relieved about. I named my worries and my fatigue. After telling all that to God, I felt a little more grounded and present. I let my cheeks feel the cold air and warm sun together.

Then I remembered our Lenten practice from last year.


Remember? We carried this finger rosary in our pockets.  And we sang, "Be still and know, that I am God..." for each bump on the rosary.
So while I walked, I used my fingers.
Touching each fingertip, breathing deeply in and out, I began:  
Be Still and Know, that I am God,
Be Still and Know that I am God.

When I got to the end of my hand, I felt better.  
I can be still.
I can remember God is God.

Take a moment, if you'd like, and try this practice.  Using your pointer finger, gently touch the finger tips of your opposite hand. Sing "Be still and know, that I am God...." for each finger. 
(This practice is available to you ANY TIME you need to pause in God's presence, and be reminded of what's true).

I still carry my grief and relief, but I am not begrudging them room in me. They alert me to the gift of being alive.  (In NVC words I might say, my need for mourning reveals how deeply the beauty, connection and exploration of life matters to me, and my feeling of relief shows how my needs for safety, care and belonging were all met in our canceled plans).

Whatever emotions are in you now, reflect on what they might be telling you. Can you feel what God might be saying to you in the midst of them?


CONNECTING RITUAL:

Perhaps tonight, before we go to bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we might all say this prayer, and so join our souls:

A Prayer for Night
Lord it is night.
The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done.
Let it be.

The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness
of the world and of our own lives
rest in you.

The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
all dear to us, and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys, new possibilities.
In your name we pray.
Amen.

(New Zealand Prayerbook)