I
was hiking in the McDowell mountains with my friend Jan and the
concept and challenge of achieving stillness occupied much of our trek. I
remembered a time several years ago when a huge disappointment in my life
compelled me to stop, be still, observe, and listen. I would have told you that
I WAS still, because I am a quiet person and I confused the two. My heart and
spirit within me were restless and fluttering. Stillness evaded me and the more
I tried to find it, the more elusive it became. That is the thing about
stillness; striving and struggling to find it push it further out of reach. You
have to acknowledge the desire for it, set aside the time to get quiet and
listen, then just let it happen. It requires a letting go, an attitude shift,
and absolutely no expectations about how it will show up or the way it will
manifest in your life.
Think
for a moment of the calm and stillness before a storm, before the first rumbles
of thunder and the first crack of lightning. Consider a wheel turning at high
speeds. When you look at the center where it is anchored to the axle, there is
no movement at all. When life moves at a furious pace are you able to remain
anchored? Can you find your center and be still? Can your children find safe
mooring with a mom who is firmly anchored?
"Life from the Center is a life of unhurried peace and power.
It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is
radiant. It takes no time, but occupies all our time. And it
makes all our life programs new and overcoming."
- Thomas Kelly -
Life
is moving at mach speed. I know you have many demands on your time and energy.
I know that sometimes obligation and schedules are at odds with values and
priorities. In these next few weeks, in the midst of all the activity, commit
to step into your beauty and power and allow stillness to settle into you. Let
your heart rest. I read Captivating years after I learned to be still.
These words resonate with me now as they did then.
"Beauty
invites. Beauty nourishes. Beauty comforts. Beauty inspires. Beauty is
transcendent. Beauty is core to a woman - who she is and what she longs to be.
Beauty indwells every woman and flows from a heart at rest. When we allow our
defenses to come down beauty emerges as if from behind a veil. When we choose
to set aside our normal means of survival and just let our heart show up,
beauty comes with it. Beauty comes from the inner part of us. Our hearts. A
heart at rest. Not a heart that is striving and restless.
A
woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become
beautiful or worthy or enough. She knows in her quiet center that God finds her
beautiful, that she is worthy, and she is enough. In fact, the only thing
getting in the way of our being fully captivating and enjoyed is our striving.
A woman of true beauty offers others the grace to be and the room to become.
A
woman whose heart is at rest invites others to rest. We are invited to be ourselves.
You find room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can
rest. It is good. You are free to be you. It is one of life's greatest
gifts."
From Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge
Come get still, rest, find your center. Recapture your beauty. September 26-29.
www.exhaleretreat.org
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