Be Still and Know I am God
Many are familiar with this declarative statement taken from the Old Testament. Perhaps it was talking about anxiety yesterday that brought it to mind this morning. It has become almost a mantra for me when I sit still and try to quiet my mind. This morning, however, I want to explore the ” Know I am God” part. My adventures in contemplative prayer have given me the heightened awareness and an evolving ability to see and connect with God in all things, including myself. This means I am starting to comprehend the universality of humanity’s “oneness” with God and all of creation.
I want to focus on that last sentence and try explaining what it means to me so it won’t be just another example of almost meaningless “psycho-philosophical jargon.” The oneness I speak of is a very strong intuitive connection (dare I say vibe as we did so many years ago?) to, well, everything. That connection gives me the gifts of compassion and understanding for many people and situations that would never have been there before.
Perhaps an example might help clarify what I am trying to communicate. The book “Alcoholics Anonymous” talks about one type of person its program cannot help—-someone unable to be honest, not from choice, but because they are not physically or psychologically able to be honest. Had the book been written now rather than in the 1930s, the term “not genetically capable of honesty” might have been used to describe such a person. For over a decade now, that phrase has always led me to thoughts of a man I divorced—–a man who was very verbose about the principles of AA but who, in actuality, was incapable of being honest with himself or others.
Perhaps I am a slow learner. But in my contemplative application of “Be still and know I am God” I have started to view him with more compassion and acceptance than ever before. I intuitively know he also is a creature created by God who has good intentions and thoughts but is often unable to act upon them. Once I accept that realization, I can recall the times I have been unable to make such intentions reality. Then, I am able to begin to feel compassion. Admittedly, I am having to work on nurturing this compassion, but, in this specific situation, that is progress.
Other examples of my newly found ” perceived oneness” have been triggered by numerous events documented in this past week’s media coverage of world events. When an elderly woman was reunited with her dog on CBS, I was there with her and God. When a man in England killed another and faced the camera holding a machete with blood red hands and bragging of his deed, I was there too. The connections with positive situations feel wonderful; the connections with evil feel indescribably bad….because viewing evil within the context of this type of connection and oneness forces one to contemplate the evil within oneself. This contemplation provides me with an even stronger motivation to share God’s love wherever I can because that is the only solution I have found spiritually capable of combating the evil that abounds in our world and to a limited extent within myself.
This must have seemed like a wildly careening tangent in terms of the topic “be still and know I am God.” But it is the “knowingness” that has caused a paradigm shift in my perception from being an isolated self/human to one of being one with God and all that is. This shift has made me look at things differently and motivated me to focus my energy in a positive direction.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this topic. Have a blessed day!
Living One Day at a Time 
Compassion makes me think of the resentment prayer in the Big Book and how important it is that I use this when I have trouble forgiving another because of their sin. (Never mind that I have not looked at my own sin.) When I pray the resentment prayer there is a great heaviness lifted from my being and I am released from my pain. Resentment causes pain in me. I had never thought of putting myself in another person’s shoes when that person has done something evil. For I am certainly not free of sin. I am not unique. When I think that I am, I need only look at my life in this day to see that I am a sinner. The word sinner causes me to feel shame, but It is an honest statement, not to make me humiliated but to be humble, that I am no different than anyone else. Yes the gift of compassion will always be a work in progress.