Spiritual Life is Fed in Stillness

It is the beginning of a new year. We have parades and other special events. We stay up to count down until the new year begins.

Many of us see a new year like a clean slate, the top of a fresh page. We are intentional about the changes we want to make, and the year spreads out before us. We want to make sure we meet our goals, that we get things right this time. We grit our teeth and focus our attention. We commit ourselves to making our dreams come true.

We resolve to make this year different, no matter what it takes. We are going to make it happen.

It is good to be clear about where we want to go. For me, the challenge is not that we are not organized, or do not really want to change.

We tend to get fixated on the particular steps we want to take each year. We forget we want to be healthy, and get stuck on a list of numbers. We lose track of the kind of work we love and get caught up in all the things we need to do.

Our challenge is that we act as if we can force ourselves into the life we want.

We forget that spiritual life is fed in stillness, not in mere accomplishments. The life we desire will take hard work, but we cannot work our way into that life. The life we want is more than the sum of things we can measure. There is no checklist, no recipe, no spreadsheet.

We sit and watch a sunset, or a sunrise. The stillness feeds our soul.

How do you find the life you desire?

Where do you find the spiritual life that is drawing you?

[Image by Ken Bosma]