Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Be still, and know that I am God!”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, June 23, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Stillness is hard for me. Quite possibly I have ADHD. A dear Buddhist friend mentioned the idea of “restless mind” and that rings true for me, too. Other folks tell me it’s just that I’m a creative type and an intellectual and my brain is always going a million directions at once because that’s normal for folks like me. And while this lack of stillness in me was true long before our modern technological state, I know for a fact that my near-constant connection to my computer or phone has contributed further to my present state.
God is God even if I can’t be still. But making an effort helps me tap into a connection with God that just doesn’t happen when I’m plowing through my day-to-day. I don’t even need to be physically still per se. As the weather in Minnesota has finally reached outdoor comfort levels, I have begun walking regularly, and I have made a commitment not to take my phone with me even to listen to music. My body may be moving, but there’s a stillness that happens when I disconnect from all the pulls and pressures of life. My mind may actually still be bouncing around, but it’s different. I am intentional about this time of being, and God is able to get through the incessant chatter in my mind through the littlest things, like watching a white-breasted nuthatch land upside down on a tree trunk (something only nuthatches do).
I may not be capable of being fully still in the way most folks think about meditating. But I am quite capable of being still and knowing that God is God.
When am I most aware of the presence of God?
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