Be.
Daily, I read a chunk of Psalms. Sometimes they are severely grumpy.
‘Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.’
Sometimes they are gleeful
‘Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth"
Other times there is sage advice.
‘Be still my soul.’
Odd that you can read something over and over again and still not properly see it. Just the other day I saw the words ‘Be still’ and I thought…
For far too long and far too often, I am not still.
I am not still; not in my soul where I should be calm and doona like. I am not still; in my scurrying around, like a dorky dad dance. I am not still; in my thoughts which are often more like scrambled eggs than a concise 3-point dot plan.
What is it that stirs up this tempest and why can’t I seem to quiet it down? Other people can manage beautifully, so what’s wrong with me?
I suspect that the starting place for a stiller life is at the deepest place within me. My inner core, my soul, my being, call it what you like. That invisible part that I am drawn to and yet which is also elusive. That which has always been there, seems to do nothing, but every so often will leap out and bewilder me.
If I can calm this beast, stroke it and make it purr, then the rest of me becomes placid and appropriate.
If I just start with that first word, ‘Be’. I don’t have to climb mountains, solve the housing crisis or stop crazy wars. I just have to BE. It should be a simple thing, but it is always the hardest thing, and yet it will always be the most rewarding and essential thing.