still saturday: unqualified
“Moses was past middle age when God called him to lead his children out of Egypt, and he spoke with a stutter. He was reluctant and unwilling and he couldn’t control his temper. But he saw the bush that burned and was not consumed. He spoke with God in the cloud on Mt. Sinai, and afterwards his face glowed with such brilliant light that the people could not bear to look at him. “In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there’s no danger that we will confuse God’s work with our own, or...
still saturday: finding wonder
Young children have no sense of wonder. They bewilder well, but few things surprise them. All of it is new to young children, after all, and equally gratuitous. Their parents pause at the unnecessary beauty of an ice storm coating the trees; the children look for something to throw. The children who tape colorful fall leaves to the schoolroom windows and walls are humoring the teacher. The busy teacher halts on her walk to school and stoops to pick up fine bright leaves “to show the children”–but it is she, now in her sixties, who is increasingly stunned by the leaves, their brightness all so much trash that litters the gutter. ~Annie Dillard in An American Childhood Annie gives us something a little different to contemplate. Usually we think of...
still saturday: heaven quiets
“And maybe, just maybe, the deepest experience of prayer begins to happen when we, too, learn to be silent. To stop. To pay attention. To offer just one word, or two, to sit in the presence of God, in the anteroom of heaven itself and become prayer. Our very selves, offered on the altar, and then flung back to earth, slivers of shimmering reflected glory, living out that deepest, wildest, most profound prayer of them all:THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. AMEN.” ~Diana Trautwein From this post: The One Thing That Silences Heaven Stilled and silent, Sandy Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d...
still saturday: poetry begins you
Let’s be clear: poetry begins you, though you might not know or feel it. You’re alive in a world God made from words. And God’s words have made you alive, and are making you more and more so. ~Dave Harrity in Making Manifest, “space and silence,” p. 25 Maybe it’s our job to incline our hearts toward silence, to head for the slight grace that stillness allows from the noises of our world. Or maybe our job is to disrupt the silence just so, to make some arrival, some gentle voice, some concrete clarity, some step toward reconciling our presence. Maybe peacemakers will be called children of God because they’re attending to the world. Maybe the meek are blessed because they disturb so little. ~Dave Harrity in Making...
still saturday: silent solitude
“Silent solitude makes true speech possible and personal. If I am not in touch with my own belovedness, then I cannot touch the sacredness of others. Experience has taught me that I connect best with others when I connect with the core of myself. When I allow God to liberate me from unhealthy dependence on people, I listen more attentively, love more unselfishly, and am more compassionate and playful. I take myself less seriously, become aware that the breath of the Father is on my face and that my countenance is bright with laughter in the midst of an adventure I thoroughly enjoy.” ~Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child, p. 58 “Conscientiously “wasting” time with God enables me to speak and act from greater...
still saturday: what’s the hurry?
We need to slow down the frenzied pace. Stop spinning in circles. Quit rushing. And ask ourselves, “What’s the hurry?” ~Ann Kroeker in Not So Fast, p. 44 Am I living a full life, or have I simply filled up my life? Is all our busyness at this breakneck speed actually getting us anywhere? Or are we pointlessly spinning, going nowhere, with no clear direction for what’s next? ~Ann Kroeker in Not So Fast, p. 43 He (John Ortberg) asked what he needed to do in order to be spiritually healthy. After a long pause, Ortberg’s spiritual mentor answered, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” Ortberg expected more and asked what else there was to do. “There is nothing...
when all is still
The great day balances upon the leaves; My ears still hear the bird when all is still; My soul is still my soul, and still the Son, And knowing this, I am not yet undone. ~Theodore Roethke in Infirmity Welcome to Still Saturday where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and words. We’d love for you to join us. Get the details on the left, grab your favorite button, and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please don’t feel pressured to comment. Simply take some time to gaze long and drink deep Stilled, Sandy Note: I found myself in the emergency room yesterday with a viral gastroenteritis. Thanks...
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