Stillness as Resistance
During times of great anxiety and uncertainty, when it seems like the fate of the world is hanging in the balance, there wells up within us a great desire to "do something." And so we thrash around, giving our inner agitation an outlet. You see a lot of this happening on social media.
I once came close to drowning. I found myself in deep water and started to flail. That only caused me to sink faster. Thankfully, I calmed myself and laid back on the water to float. I became still, and that saved my life.
In Exodus Moses and the Israelites find themselves pursued by Pharaoh and backed up against the Red Sea, the Egyptian army bearing down on them. Trapped between a rock and a hard place, the people begin to panic. Nowhere to go! Nowhere to run!
Then Moses says:
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
"You need only to be still."
Being still can be a profound act of resistance. We are surrounded by the crazed, anxious activity of others. Their panic is contagious, their fear infectious. Worse, they will shame you for staying still, denigrating your calm as wickedness and damning you for not "doing something" as the world burns.
But on the banks of the Red Sea, God fights for the still. And as I discovered many years ago, the flailing drown while the still are saved.
This reminds me of a quote from Bayo Akomolafe: "The times are very urgent, therefore we must slow down."
I walk. If I need to tell God about it, I do. But I practice still prayer. I practice dropping into my body and saying a prayer word. It’s amazing how that has healed my mind. God has slowly shifted my eyes away from the culture wars. There’s so much glory, so much love in creation.