Passion and Stillness
Reading a verse from Proverbs a couple weeks ago has me thinking about something. "A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot." Prov 14:30 Passion could be another word for flesh that Paul uses often in the New Testament. Or as more modern versions translate: the sinful nature. The idea behind all these, is that in our human nature there is a desire for sin. Sin is basically separation from God. So the passions: pride, greed, lust, anger, slothfulness, gluttony, jealousy; war against what is in us to make us more Christlike.
What I've been thinking about is if the passions are the sinful expressions of our human nature, what is the opposite virtue to focus on? Passion is a strong desire, and in this sense, a desire for other than God. At first I thought the spirit is the opposite, but I'm not sure. Or possibly dispassion of course, but what exactly is that?
Then I remembered a term used often in monastic language, and even in the Psalms: stillness. "Be still before the Lord, and wait silently for Him." "Be still and know that I am God." Abba Arsenius had a rule for his life: Be still, be silent, be at peace.
So just what is stillness? To me, it is an inner silence, a silence of not only hearing, but all the senses, all the passions. Silence and solitude are not an end in themselves. They exist only to bring us to the point of stillness. It is there, when we are quiet both inwardly and outwardly, that we can hear that still small voice of God. Of course, I'm not referring to an audible voice. Or even loopy ideas that pop into our head from too much pizza late the night before. But simply the voice of God calling us closer to himself. A voice without words, without even thoughts, and more importantly (as most real mystics point out) beyond emotion or feeling.
Stillness, unfortunately for our modern age, cannot be bought or obtained easily. There is no 40 days of purpose to find it. There are no conferences and radio stations blaring it's virtue. There is only one way, the way Christ showed us. And that is by consistent time alone with God in prayer. Not armed with bibles, concordances, and books, but with the only thing we need: a contrite, humble heart that will patiently wait for Him.
Simeon and Anna from the New Testament were a part of a group known as "the quiet in the land." They patiently were waiting for the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Dutifully, they ministered, worshipped, and waited. I'm not sure how exactly they did it, but they must have obtained stillness. (Surely they didn't have all the worldy noise and distraction we have today). Finally, they were both rewarded with seeing the Kingdom of God come in their time.
What a model for us today. Are I willing to devote such time and energy to simply waiting on God in stillness?
What I've been thinking about is if the passions are the sinful expressions of our human nature, what is the opposite virtue to focus on? Passion is a strong desire, and in this sense, a desire for other than God. At first I thought the spirit is the opposite, but I'm not sure. Or possibly dispassion of course, but what exactly is that?
Then I remembered a term used often in monastic language, and even in the Psalms: stillness. "Be still before the Lord, and wait silently for Him." "Be still and know that I am God." Abba Arsenius had a rule for his life: Be still, be silent, be at peace.
So just what is stillness? To me, it is an inner silence, a silence of not only hearing, but all the senses, all the passions. Silence and solitude are not an end in themselves. They exist only to bring us to the point of stillness. It is there, when we are quiet both inwardly and outwardly, that we can hear that still small voice of God. Of course, I'm not referring to an audible voice. Or even loopy ideas that pop into our head from too much pizza late the night before. But simply the voice of God calling us closer to himself. A voice without words, without even thoughts, and more importantly (as most real mystics point out) beyond emotion or feeling.
Stillness, unfortunately for our modern age, cannot be bought or obtained easily. There is no 40 days of purpose to find it. There are no conferences and radio stations blaring it's virtue. There is only one way, the way Christ showed us. And that is by consistent time alone with God in prayer. Not armed with bibles, concordances, and books, but with the only thing we need: a contrite, humble heart that will patiently wait for Him.
Simeon and Anna from the New Testament were a part of a group known as "the quiet in the land." They patiently were waiting for the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Dutifully, they ministered, worshipped, and waited. I'm not sure how exactly they did it, but they must have obtained stillness. (Surely they didn't have all the worldy noise and distraction we have today). Finally, they were both rewarded with seeing the Kingdom of God come in their time.
What a model for us today. Are I willing to devote such time and energy to simply waiting on God in stillness?
posted by Jeff at
5:43 PM
