Day 34: Psalm 46

If there is one consistent theme to my conversations lately, it is that the adrenaline rush of the quarantine has officially worn off.

In the first weeks, if you were lucky, there was a stress-induced response that pulled you out of bed in the morning to face the world, but as we sit somewhere in the mid-forties of days (I’ve lost count), that red bull rush is gone. We can only be cut off from friends, hugs, school, work for so long. This feeling was inevitable. We are human. At this moment, I find great refuge in praying one of the great Psalms:

“Be still, and know that I am God!" Psalm 46:10a

It’s a powerful idea to dwell on. God comes to us in our stillness. Our stillness can summon God’s activity. How you do that is the trick. Thomas Keating, probably one of the most well-known American monks, developed something called centering prayer. It’s a focus on interior silence, not just noise cancellation, that brings an awareness that God is God. If you’d like to try, there is a prayer called the welcoming prayer. Perhaps you want to place your hand over your heart and repeat these words:

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it’s for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen

Let us welcome today with all of its sorrows and joys. Let us be still and know that He is God.

Jared