While moving toward a goal, someone at sometime needs to be still. Listen to Kent Ira Groff describe it:
“Every good action arises out of contemplation, as a surging waterfall originates in a still spring. As a weaver contemplates the design for a rug before and while moving the shuttle, so action and contemplation need not be separate but two movements of a seamless whole. ‘Be still and know that I am God!’ (Psalm 46:10). It is ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ to be present in the world”
(The Soul of the Congregation: Weaving Spiritual Practices in Ministry Together. 2000. Nashville, TN: Upper Room Publishers; page 17).
Surging waterfall and weaver. Both have their still point of beginning. Out of stillness is born power and design. Out of stillness one hears the voice of God. Out of the context of stillness the goal and journey are recognized.
We are such a busy-oriented culture that we barely have time to stop and be still. It is more than just the idea of stopping to smell the roses. It is an intentional stillness that goes to the heart of spirituality. It is choosing to be still so we can know who God is! Too often much of our “church work” is frantic action covering up the fact that we do not know God.
With respect to our visioning process going here at Highland View, we all need to spend some intentional time in stillness before God to know God. Out of such contemplation we believe wholeheartedly that the direction for “good action” will arise! You have heard of the saying that “still waters run deep.” It is out of this depth that we drink from the Spirit of God the life-giving water that fills and refreshes our soul.
One of the most significant blessings from our visioning process should be that of spiritual nourishment and refreshment. At this point we do not know what the configuration of shape and color will define the rug. But the Divine Weaver knows, and asks us to be still long enough for that vision to materialize before our very eyes. Action and contemplation—both are the seamless whole of a congregation seeking and immersing itself into the presence and power of God.
In Christian love, Curtis
“Every good action arises out of contemplation, as a surging waterfall originates in a still spring. As a weaver contemplates the design for a rug before and while moving the shuttle, so action and contemplation need not be separate but two movements of a seamless whole. ‘Be still and know that I am God!’ (Psalm 46:10). It is ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ to be present in the world”
(The Soul of the Congregation: Weaving Spiritual Practices in Ministry Together. 2000. Nashville, TN: Upper Room Publishers; page 17).
Surging waterfall and weaver. Both have their still point of beginning. Out of stillness is born power and design. Out of stillness one hears the voice of God. Out of the context of stillness the goal and journey are recognized.
We are such a busy-oriented culture that we barely have time to stop and be still. It is more than just the idea of stopping to smell the roses. It is an intentional stillness that goes to the heart of spirituality. It is choosing to be still so we can know who God is! Too often much of our “church work” is frantic action covering up the fact that we do not know God.
With respect to our visioning process going here at Highland View, we all need to spend some intentional time in stillness before God to know God. Out of such contemplation we believe wholeheartedly that the direction for “good action” will arise! You have heard of the saying that “still waters run deep.” It is out of this depth that we drink from the Spirit of God the life-giving water that fills and refreshes our soul.
One of the most significant blessings from our visioning process should be that of spiritual nourishment and refreshment. At this point we do not know what the configuration of shape and color will define the rug. But the Divine Weaver knows, and asks us to be still long enough for that vision to materialize before our very eyes. Action and contemplation—both are the seamless whole of a congregation seeking and immersing itself into the presence and power of God.
In Christian love, Curtis
