Stillness

Silence in the Way of Jesus

2022-03-30T21:47:27+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Silence, Solitude, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Stillness|

“A word with power is a word that comes out of silence. A word that bears fruit is a word that emerges from the silence and returns to it. It is a word that reminds us of the silence from which it comes and leads us back to that silence.” Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart I have been pressing into the connection between the formation that happens through the contemplative life and the formation that happens through stepping out into active mercy and justice. I'm convinced more and more, that to live a Christ-centric life of love, mercy, and justice, means to passionately pursue the way that Jesus walked out His conversational life with [...]

Learning to Be Still in Chaos

2020-10-06T04:54:03+00:00By Joel|Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Stillness|

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 It's safe to say that there is plenty of chaos right now. “Be still and know that I am God.” It sounds great, doesn’t it? But this is more than bumper sticker theology. Something resonates in our hearts when we hear it, but when the reality of life rushes in, there can be a ‘yeah, right?’ response that is like a knee jerk reaction in our heads. “But doesn’t God know what’s going on in my life?!?” “How on earth am I supposed to ‘Be Still’??” “My whole world is falling apart!” Yes. That’s the point right there. In this Psalm, it [...]

Still, Like a Tree

2019-05-16T05:36:14+00:00By Joel|Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Stillness|

"...in an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still." (Pico Iyer) As I've been pursuing the practice of stillness, I have read a book called The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer, a travel writer. Throughout the book he makes keen observations about stillness, and in a wonderful Ted Talk that he presented, he said, "The trip, in other words, gave me some amazing sights, but it's only sitting still that allows me to turn those into lasting insights" Here, Iyer makes the realization that amidst [...]