Commit to Slow Down

I was talking with a student today and she was telling me about her adult son. He is disciplined in his practice of quietly stretching every day. It is part of his routine. He wakes up. Then, he stretches. He has his coffee. He reads the paper. He has made it part of his life - every morning without fail.
It got me thinking. Why is it so hard for us to put our practice into our daily lives. Do we not realize that we have that discipline within us? All individuals have the responsibility to take care of themselves, right? We can’t think we cannot do it. We have that spark. We are fully equipped. We simply need to discipline ourselves.
We think negatively about discipline. We have a tendency to think of discipline as a prison. Discipline is simply practice.
And once we begin that practice, it will be a part of our day and our lives. Discipline means self-commitment. When we commit ourselves to our progress, then slowly we will find that the spark to continue is within us. The discipline you need to learn this, to slow down and be still is not a discipline you are taught. We’ve been taught to have discipline in areas of work, study, athletics, and competition. But, to follow the path to know God, to be enlightened, to be grounded is not a discipline of which we’ve had much practice.
When we want to go to the deeper levels of our being, stillness is important. In all other journeys you have to move. In this journey you do not have to move at all. The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It is a simple formula, but very difficult to apply. From your childhood onward you are taught to move. Nobody teaches you how to be still. You have to learn not to move. Since it is a completely new undertaking, it seems difficult.
Today, and the next, and the next, let’s take a baby step to “be still”. It will feel awkward at first, or maybe feel like we are wasting precious time. We could be cleaning, making a phone call, writing the next best-seller. But, if we took 14 minutes to stretch or 7 minutes to pray or 3 minutes to slow down, we would still get to work on time, and make the kids their breakfast. We’d have more appreciation for our time if we slowed down. Let’s have the discipline to take a breath, and be in our practice now.
Be Still and Know that I am God – Reflect and grow this thought.