Be still

Advent 1 from
www.http://www.cruzblanca.org/hermanoleon/

Advent.  Waiting.

Often when I pray the words, "Be still..." come to my mind.  The ending might be different.  It could be just "be still" or maybe "be still and know," or "be still and know that I am God."  And sometimes, "be still and know that I love you."

Be still.

My younger son cannot be still.  I don't mean still as in motionless; I mean still as in quiet.  He doesn't talk all the time, but he is always making some kind of noise.  He fills the still air with tiny noises. 

Be still.

Do you have a compulsion to fill the air -- to fill the stillness?  Do you find comfort in quiet?  Or is it empty?  

Sometimes, when I pray, and I hear the words "be still," I don't want to obey.  I want to get on with it.  I'm probably praying because I have something to say, to ask, to tell.  I don't want to be still.  And yet, I try to obey.  I try to stop talking and let the empty quiet exist.  To know.  To listen.  To just be in the stillness.

Be still and know.