ALONE
Be Still My Soul
Lord, if only I had more time.
Time for you.
Time to think and relax; to get to know you better.
Time to develop that relationship I need so much.
But I have time!
I’m sitting here now, writing, reading.
Maybe not for long, but it is time.
How shall I use it, Lord?
Shall I turn my thoughts from wavelength to wavelength,
filling my mind with an incoherent progression
of pointless words out of the air?
Or fine tune down to your presence?
Sometimes I’m happier listening to the
undemanding jumble of sound,
understanding nothing because I don’t listen long enough,
finding no word of meaning because I expect none.
Yet persuading myself that I’m in touch
with the world and with you
because my finger’s on the dial,
and I’m constantly moving it around.
I fill my life with activity,
cluttering its corners with plans and programs.
Convincing myself that what I’m doing
pleases you by its volume and repetition.
Telling everyone that it’s your will
when I’ve not made the time to listen for it.
Help me to push away
the sound of traffic outside my window,
the mindless revving of engines,
the shouts of people.
The crowded day.
Stop the wheel of my life a moment.
Put your divine spanner in the works,
and make me pause.
Open my eyes to your presence.
Help me see the height and depth and breadth
of your love.
The quiet, breath-taking beauty of it.
And then, Lord, what then?
Fill the silence once more with words?
No, Lord,
Maybe I’ll just sit quietly with you.
Letting in your healing.
Thank you. |
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
Read it in context, the whole psalm.
It speaks of earthquake
and cataclysm, war and political upheaval.
And in that context being still becomes a healing necessity, not a
Saturday afternoon extra.
Technique: Not all Christian artists, of course, are working with
explicitly Biblical subjects or forms. People of faith are free to
paint portraits, draw flowers, carve wildlife, or enact abstract designs.
God’s sovereignty extends everywhere, and it is a serious mistake to limit
Him or His servants to a narrowly defined sphere labeled “religious.”
Strictly speaking, the Bible gives a Christian dimension to all of life
and to all of art. Though my works are indeed forthrightly Christian,
I do not restrict myself to the narratives of the Bible. My landscapes,
florals, wildlife, etc. may be abstract or detailed and realistic; at the
very same time, they may also be whimsical fantasies. This is sanctified
imagination— managing to honor what God has made while letting my own imagination
respond with creations of its own. |
