Week of April 10, 2000
Debbie B.

"Be still, and know that I am God!"
Psalm 46

"Be still!" I can hear my father whispering this warning to my sisters and me on our many walks through the woods or along the beach when we were growing up. My father was not reprimanding us, he was warning us. "Be still", pay attention, because if you continue on your giggly, noisy, childish way, you might miss something wonderful. And indeed my father was right, because on these walks when we did stop, and listen and pay attention, we were rewarded with sights and sounds that still delight me in their memory. A whippoorwill singing, a mother deer and her fawn, a snake sunning on a rock, a fiddler crab ducking into his hole, a barnacle eating. All of these things and many more would have never been a part of my growing experience if I had not heeded the warning to "be still."

Our Father in heaven also tells us to "be still." He wants us to take time during our day to stop, pay attention, and know that He is God. He knows that if we do not take time from our busy, stress filled days to "be still," we will miss something wonderful. We will miss the opportunity for our own spirits to bask in the presence of God, and we will miss the opportunity to mature in our relationship with Him. "Be still!" This is not a reprimand, but a warning. A warning from a loving Father who wants to continue walking with his children and sharing their delight in the gift of life that He has given them.

Loving Father, help us to make being still a priority in our lives,
so that we will truly know that you are God. Amen.

Contributed by Debra B.
Published Monday April 10, 2000
Week 20 of Liturgical Year B