Stillness

 

STILLNESS

If you can keep your head, my son, while all around are losing theirs, you’ll be a man - It sounds like the father is thinking in terms of national emergencies. But doesn’t it apply equally to everyday life ? I mean, it isn’t just a case of ‘Don’t panic! Don’t panic !’ Keeping a level head implies a certain interior stillness.

The temptation is to let ourselves be constantly distracted by continual input from smartphones, tablets, tv, radio etc etc. The air waves are constantly buzzing. And as if that wasn’t enough we walk around with our ears plugged in to music, singing along or talking to someone invisible. Our heads are always out there when they’d be better off in ‘ere, at least from time to time. Actually, there’s nothing more tiring than a brain that can’t stop. It keeps you awake at night, it blocks inspiration, it confuses information coming in and it prevents you moving on. You can end up obsessing and when you do, you are locked in to whatever got you going in the first place . And there is no escape. Do you know what I mean? If we have no interior stillness we have lost our core, that strong centre that keeps us steady at all times.

Take Danny and Ore - Those of you who are fans of the TV programme Strictly Come Dancing will know who I’m talking about; the two male dancers who reached the final a few years ago, Ore and Danny. If you’ve still got a recording of those final dances, have a look at them. You’ll see how Ore has a stillness that’s always there no matter how fast and furious the dance. His still centre is what gives him charisma, presence, strength. He does come over as strong, doesn’t he ? Danny is a super dancer, moves like a dream, the present day Fred Astaire. But look at his Samba. It’s really wild in every sense. His body has lost its centre. I think that’s why, in the end it was Ore who won.

Maybe it comes naturally to him, he’s just been born with something others lack. But we can all find our centre and learn to live from it. But first we have to establish it. We have to draw our attention inside - closing eyes helps, and become familiar with the movement of our hearts and brains, watching them settle down, telling them to let go of everything, one thing after another, till we’ve emptied ourselves. After a while, we might notice our heart rate dropping. We might also notice impulses to start up a train of thought or memory, but these must be chucked out with the rest of the garbage. By becoming still, we are pulling ourselves into the present moment. We might then become more aware of our environment, noises outside; a ticking clock, a car passing, a cat purring. We notice it, then let it go. We stay in the present, not thinking.

There’s an antiphon in Daily Prayer that Gavin and I both love, ‘Let us listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into his peace.’ If we listen harder, intent on the silence we may be rewarded and begin to feel the presence of God - is he within us or without ? We feel our way with this new sensation which is so individual, so intimately personal - our relationship with God.

In a way, this centering down of our being takes a kind of courage. We mistakenly feel we are more in charge of our lives when our brains are going nineteen to the dozen. But really it’s just the opposite because when we are still we are really BEING instead of merely REACTING. So stop before you react, centre down, orientate, sense your direction, let inspiration flow in and you will make a better decision. You will be the one who is capable of leading in a crisis, finding your way through difficult circumstances, the strong one with the kind of presence that inspires confidence, while the others are running round like headless chickens.

And what is more, you will have peace: rest. You won’t be wasting your energy on useless thoughts and with any luck you’ll be able to sleep at night. Look at Ore again. We should be more like him. When he’s dancing he is in touch with the still centre of his being. He’s comfortable in his skin not jumping out of it.

Most people want peace. Most of us are tired of troubled minds, too much to do, of living in difficult circumstances, of the expectations of others, of ourselves. With a still centre we can walk through it all, interacting with the world around us but not getting lost in it. It gives us a kind of detachment that leaves us no less empathetic.

I’ve always loved a poem written by Gerard Manley Hopkins. It’s called Heaven Haven and subtitled, a nun takes the veil.

I have desired to go

Where springs not fail,

To fields where fly no sharp and sided hail

And a few lilies blow.

And I have asked to be

Where no storms come,

Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,

And out of the swing of the sea.

When I was younger I thought the nun was longing for the calm of a cloistered world, a protected place where she could meet God. But now I realise she is longing for that interior place of divine encounter, the silent still centre of our souls. And you know what ? You don’t need a veil or a cloister to find it.