Advent: An Invitation to Stillness

      

              The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
 He leads me beside still waters.
     He restores my soul.”

-Psalm 23:2-3 (ESV)

Advent invites us into stillness. Away from the multiplicity of demands, opportunities and people, our mind begins to slow down. Many, if not most, of those opportunities and relationships that we set aside for a time are good: we were created to live full lives in this world. However, if they are only one side of the rhythmic pendulum of a whole, healthy life. One side swings into the many-faceted activity and interaction of the day. Then it swings back into solitude, silence and stillness—the time necessary to be alone with self and God. Just as day and night alternate, so we are created to flow out and back: flowing out to the manifold interactions of the world and then back into stillness.

The whole of contemporary society militates against such a practice of stillness and simplicity. Constantly multitasking, we try to squeeze more and more into the hours of the day. Employers want greater productivity out of us. Organizations and churches offer programs and activities to keep us occupied. Sports and media present unending opportunities to be entertained. Advertisers promise us greater gratification in life if we but buy more of their products. While none of these may be innately evil, as a whole the world system distracts us and allures us with a false assurance of genuine purpose and fulfillment in life.

Into such frantic busyness and multiplicity our Shepherd bids us follow him to green pastures where we can lie down and rest. The gentle waters of a stream welcome us to come and be restored—body, soul and spirit. A large shade tree welcomes us to stop running long enough to enjoy the Creator’s blessings freely offered to us. The song of a nearby bird extends an invitation to retreat from the fragmentation of our busy world for a while and step into simplicity.

Stillness does not come spontaneously to the human heart. Since the Fall in Genesis 3, we are worried and anxious about so many things. Jesus points us to nature to gain a different picture of what life could be like. “Look at the birds of the air,” instructs Jesus; “they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Stillness must be cultivated. The more often we practice stillness, the more we are able to carry it with us throughout the day. Even when things get hectic, we are able to access that still place within and find peace.

Advent is a season to cultivate such stillness. Whether it be a devotional time each evening of the four Advent Sundays or a day’s retreat, we are invited to still ourselves and prepare our hearts for Christ’s fresh coming into our lives.

© 2018 Glenn E. Myers