“Come and see the works of the LORD, who has done fearsome deeds on earth; Who stops wars to the ends of the earth, breaks the bow, splinters the spear, and burns the shields with fire; “Be still and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.””
Psalms 46:9-11 NABRE
Take a breath. Exhale. Be still.
The injunction offered by God via the Psalmist in the above is advice that seems almost impossible to follow. How often, as children, are we instructed to ‘sit still!’ or ‘stay over there!’ by parents who sense our overzealousness? And how often, even today, do we find ourselves struggling through meetings, or classes, or other responsibilities, with the nagging sensation that we’d much rather be someplace else than we are at this moment, regretting the fact that we need ‘be still’?
It seems that our natural state is motion; to be always seeking after some end, or chasing after some endeavor. We are never satisfied with dawdling in a moment; no we must always direct our eyes after something new.
So why is it that God, the unmoved mover, the Father of motion, the Enactor of time and being would instruct us to simply, ‘be still?’
My first move was this: perhaps there is some utility in doing so. Perhaps when we are quiet and unmoving, we gain perspective, or we are re-energized. Maybe we have an opportunity to reflect, or to reconsider that paths we are currently treading upon.
And I think all of these are indeed real, good possibilities. But my mind doesn’t want to stop there.
Perhaps we are invited to ‘be still’ because there exists no utility in such a decision. It is rather an invitation to do something for the sake of doing so; practicing an action for its own end, not to achieve some ulterior motive. Because to ‘be still’ is not aimed at achieving some high and lofty purpose, but to simply enjoy a moment, to persist in existence for the sake that existence is good!
The very same God that has limitless potential, who enacts great deeds across the Earth, who knows the inner characters of all Creation – that God concurrently invites us to exist in a state of pure being! It is only when we are quiet that we are able to truly exist, when our lives are devoid of distractions and obstacles to joy. Because maybe pure joy is not a complicated formula of having the right level of income, or the perfect career or family, but maybe the purest form of joy we can experience is being beheld as Good in the eyes of the One who in Itself is Good, in other words, being still in God’s presence.
Catholicism Rekindled 