The problem is very simple. Peace and inner sweetness can be destroyed by a restless mind. God can only come to the quiet mind. In 1 Kings 19:12 (The Message) it says
Then he was told, "Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by." A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
This verses talks about that God was not in the loud, raging things that we would think. God was actually in the whisper. I have heard it described that the Hebrew word for whisper actually means silence. That God’s voice is actually silence! Can God speak in the midst of such inner confusion as you permit by that endless, hurrying parade of thoughts going through your mind? Be quiet and God will soon be heard. So if the problem is very simple so is the solution.
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10)
Peace can be cultivated, but only by being still and not restless. It is only by simple acts of obedience, or willingness and discipline, that we can find this place of peace. Peace is not a gift given to those who happen to be the most holy of us. Peace is the end result of the process of giving ourselves, through simple obedience, to the process of looking at our thoughts moment by moment, finding time to be still and quiet each day, and allowing ourselves to die to our ego. We all will not receive a thing if we continue to focus on and listen to our own restless thoughts. We can have the faith to listen to God and the thoughts of peace given. We can slow down each day and sit in meditation and first begin to notice how busy our mind is and learn how to slow it down. We can become aware of the thoughts that flood our mind about ourselves and what we think we should have or need. We can become aware of the lies that are in each of our thoughts we have that things are “never” or “always.” We can sit quietly with our thoughts and begin to turn off the ego and turn on to God thoughts. We can do this by practicing obedience daily with a “quiet time.”
This is much different that the quiet time that most Christian’s have grown up thinking about. This is not a time to fill my mind with my own restless thoughts of how my day will go and how I can evoke God into my day with prayers of please and help. Rather, it is a time to sit and be still before God, in a quiet place, to meditate on your thoughts and examine them one, by one. As I Corinthians 10:5 says,
This is much different that the quiet time that most Christian’s have grown up thinking about. This is not a time to fill my mind with my own restless thoughts of how my day will go and how I can evoke God into my day with prayers of please and help. Rather, it is a time to sit and be still before God, in a quiet place, to meditate on your thoughts and examine them one, by one. As I Corinthians 10:5 says,
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
This is the practice of our spiritual life. We look at every thought in the silence voice that is God and allow the Creator to examine us and cultivate thoughts that will lead to peace no matter the circumstances in our lives. This type of meditation will also allow us to find out how to treat ourselves and others with love, which is the real way to cultivate peace. God is love.
Namaste'
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1 comment:
Great post!
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