When was the last time that you heard silence? As I thought about this yesterday, I stopped to listen. No one else was in the house but me and the dogs and they were both asleep, surely I would be able to hear silence. I heard the gurgling of the fish tank, the water was too low. I filled the tank and the gurgling stopped but now I could hear the low hum of the pump and the refrigerator upstairs. I listen even now in my empty office and hear the whir of cooling fans and the drone of the HVAC system. Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalms 46:10, Doc & Cov 101:16) Such a simple command and yet, are we so surrounded by sound, by noise, that we have forgotten how to be still? It is in stillness that we hear God and if there is no stillness, there is no hearing. It is in stillness that we find our connection with the world around us, without stillness there is no connection. It is in stillness that we find strength and resolve, without it we are weak and directionless.
Even as the world echoes around me, I find a profound silence in my practice. I find a deep resevoir of still waters. As I listen to this silence and float in the stillness, I am fill with life and a slow, firey strength. As I follow my breath, I become soft and fluid. Many might see softness as a sign of weakness but when I stood up to troubles and faced them head on, they would shatter against my resolve leaving me to clean up the pieces. Now, I still face troubles head on but I accept them, welcome them and so they pass through me intact and when I turn to see their path, they are gone and have left nothing behind. Find your strength. Be Still.
Namasté