The word “Lent” actually literally means Springtime, the perfect season for renewal! Here’s Sister Mary’s Week #2 of the “mini-retreat” that will refresh your soul throughout Lent. Here’s a list of all of the weeks’ posts.

By Sister Mary Core, OSB

Last week I invited you to become a grain of wheat.  This week I’m suggesting we take to heart the words of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know I am God.”

Stillness is much more than sitting quietly or keeping our mouths closed for a while. In many ways, it is more of the “letting go” that we addressed last week with the dying grain of wheat.

“Being still” in the way God calls us to be means giving up control, turning off our commentary about “How it should be done,” or why our way is better.

“Being still” means listening and hearing rather than preparing our response.

It means being willing to turn simple knowledge into wisdom and understanding.

It means accepting ourselves as we are, for who we are, and letting our faults and brokenness teach us to be better.

“Being still” means being humble enough to reflect on our gifts and blessings; accolades and embarrassments; pain, sin and sorrow. It means being thankful for all of it,  because it helped us grow. It means being open.

Maybe the best image of stillness is to go back to our grain of wheat lying on top of the soil. It doesn’t dig or move. It just waits, open to the rain for softening, the sun for warming, the soil for nourishing.

Questions for reflection…

What are areas of your life that need to be quieted or stilled?
Consider this statement: “God gave us two ears and one mouth because we need to listen twice as much as we speak.”Is there food for thought in that statement for you?
Can you identify a particular area of your life that never seems able to be still?  Why is this so?
Have you given yourself a daily time and place where you can physically “be still” and allow your spiritual, emotional, and mental self to grow in stillness? Try to establish such a time and place. It can become a special haven for you.
Where – or in what – do you find “stillness”? In walking … nature … music … meditation … reading … dancing … a favorite chair? Try to identify what helps you to achieve stillness.
How do you feel when you are “still”?  Does the stillness help you to “know God”?

Next week, I’ll focus on a new scripture passage. Until then, Be still!