“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
My mind generally races throughout its day: it reacts to the surrounding stimuli of its world; it plots and plans the practicalities necessary for a smooth daily existence; it ponders the many things I read and hear; it mulls over its own thoughts. This is normal for it.
And then, sometimes, it gets stopped.
Sometimes, like yesterday, it will be humming along as usual, as I sit on the back patio, listening to the children play, reading a good book, thinking remotely about my plans for the rest of the day…when I look up…
…and shut up.
Something about God’s world–so often, it’s trees, but it can really be anything–fully quiets my soul. My thoughts are absorbed completely into the beauty of the moment, and there is no pondering, or planning, or meditating, or mentally describing. There is simply silence, as the beauty of God’s world, and the immense Love reflected in that beauty, pour into my heart. Such inward silences can stretch into minutes, which is no small feat for my overactive, ever-thinking mind.
Eventually, something will snap me out of it, and the thoughts will pour back in, and my day will proceed. But as it once again moves forward, I remain deeply grateful for the times that God simply shuts me up.
How does God shut you up?
Kingdom Civics 
Posted by ann on January 7, 2012 at 5:57 pm
with His beauty….a beautiful sunrise as i cross the bridge to work will usually do it.
with His grace….in a moment of life when i realize that He has been with me and has passed by me and i see Him from behind. in those moments i realize how close He is and i can barely breathe.
with His children…when i watch and listen and talk with my students, i am silenced, simply because they are such amazing creations.
Posted by kingdomcivics on January 8, 2012 at 8:22 am
Ann, I love your thoughts on His grace and His children, as well as His beauty. I also am often stopped in my tracks when I hold my children or wash their hair or basically touch them at all…or even listen to them talk. It’s as if the depths of the meaning of the phrase “fearfully and wonderfully made” are suddenly revealed to me, if only for a moment or two. Stunning.
Posted by Tim on January 9, 2012 at 10:01 am
Kim, how timely! Just this morning, as I was driving to teh gym, I looked up through the windshield and saw the full moon ahead. That’s what always does it for me, a full moon. Sunsets and babies and pine forests might occasionally make me pause, but a full moon always stops me in my tracks – if not literally, at least figuratively. It reminds me of the wonder I feel when thinking of God. I don’t know why, but it truly does.
Tim
Posted by kingdomcivics on January 11, 2012 at 8:26 pm
That’s cool. I like full moons, too, but your comment makes me want to appreciate them even more!