A Quiet Mind
[Rich Anderson]

Be Still and Know That I Am God. [Psalm 46:10]

rayer is the single most important part of our walk with God.  It is how we develop a growing relationship with Him, how we know His voice and how we seek His guidance in our lives.  We need to devote even more time in prayer, reading God’s Word and listening for His voice.  We need to learn how to have a quiet mind.

Philip Yancy wrote an article in Christianity Today entitled “For God’s Sake – What 147 elk taught me about prayer.”  He signed up for a five day spiritual retreat; being assured that he would hear the voice of God in his life. 

He writes; ”The first day I wandered to the edge of a meadow and sat down with my back against a tree.  I had brought along my assignment and a notebook to record my thoughts.  “How long will I stay awake?“, I wondered.  To my great fortune a herd of 147 elk (I had plenty of time to count them) wandered into the very field where I was sitting.  To see one elk is exciting; to watch 147 elk in their natural habitat is enthralling.  But I soon learned that to watch 147 elk for two hours is, to put it mildly, boring.  They lowered their heads and chewed grass.  They raised their heads in unison to look at a raspy crow.  They lowered their heads again to chew grass.  For two hours nothing else happened.  No mountain lions attacked; no bulls charged each other.  They just chewed grass.

After awhile, the very placidity of the scene began to affect me.  The elk had not noticed me and I simply melded into their environment, taking on their rhythms.  I no longer thought about the work I left at home and the deadlines facing me.  My body relaxed, my mind fell quiet.  An elk does not have to work at having a quiet mind; it feels content standing in a field all day with its fellow elk, chewing grass.  The lover does not have to work at attending to the beloved.  I prayed for, and in a fleeting moment received, that kind of absorbed attention to God.”

Make a commitment to find time each day for quiet meditation with God.  It doesn’t have to be in a far away field with a herd of elk, but it can be time spent with a quiet mind looking at the ocean, the green trees in a local park, or even sitting in your back yard listening to the symphony of God’s little birds.  A quiet mind is good for the soul. 

A spiritual seeker took time from his busy life to seek and search for a quiet mind.  In his case he spent a few days alone in a monastery.  On the day he arrived, as he was being led to his modest sleeping quarters, the Monk said; “I hope your stay is a blessed one.  If you need anything, let us know, and we’ll teach you how to live without it.”   

-r anderson

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