Be Still

Thepaceoflifeinourhouse has slowed since school is out. Half-day camps and restful afternoons set the rhythm for our days. There’s more time in the evenings without homework or softball practice vying for attention. The heat physically forces us to slow down and take breaks. This seasonal, rhythmic change is a good reset for our family.

In May, a group of women from our churches gathered for a relaxed afternoon of community and scripture, reflection and play. Our time was rooted in Psalm 46, especially the tenth verse, “Be still, and know that I am God.” When we are still, we can hear the still, calm voice of God more readily. We left our time together with a greater since of connection and calm.

Kosuke Koyama, a Japanese Theologian, affirms the divine gift of slowing down in his book, “Three Mile an Hour God.” Koyama explains that humans walk at a typical pace of three miles per hour. Jesus loved people at this same pace, as he walked alongside them. He writes, “Love has a speed. It’s a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is the speed we walk and therefore the speed the love of God walks.”

It’s counter-intuitive and counter-cultural. The world tells us to hurry up, to hustle. To fill our time with as many things as possible to get the most out of life. Our culture prides busyness, awarding it like a badge of honor. God tells us to be still, to slow down.

John Mark Comer invites people to reflect on the things with which we fill our time in this book, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” Comer writes, “What you give your attention to is the person you become. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to. That bodes well for those apprentices of Jesus who give the bulk of their attention to him and to all that is good, beautiful, and true in his world.”

Comer goes on to say that “there is a healthy kind of busyness where your life is full with things that matter. By that definition, Jesus himself was busy. The problem isn’t when you have a lot to do, it’s when you have too much to do and the only way to keep the quota up is to hurry.”

Doyouneedtoslowdown? Are you rushing through life at 90 miles an hour? Consider taking on the pace of grace, the speed of our three mile an hour God.

Be still and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10