- Reflections by Bob Garbett
Be Still
Psalm 46: 10 "Be still and know that I am God"
I get so tired of my thoughts. It is always the same old stuff. The thoughts come and go as they please and the biggest problem is that they never 'go' - as they are forever 'coming'.
These are thoughts I mostly don’t want to think. There is a terrible worn out 'sameness' about them. It is always, “Oh! It’s you again.”
I end up repressing, rejecting and always recycling these thoughts, again and again. These thoughts are not bad, but neither are they life-giving, or even life-affirming.
…And then, there are ‘other’ thoughts. I can never get enough of these… St Paul said; “Let this mind (thoughts) be in you, that was in Christ Jesus.” The most important thing about this verse is: 'let'.
These are not the same, tired, old, worn out thoughts as they are always life-giving. They often disappear just as quickly as they appear (and herein is the real problem) often within a split second. What these thoughts are trying to do is to find a home. They are trying you on for size to see if they fit.
These ‘other’ thoughts are very different. As soon as they arrive (always without notice) you know they are not from you, you know they are from a different world, a different source, a different zone. They are, in fact, from the mind of Christ always forever looking for a place to call home.
We will never know these same thoughts unless we allow them to be thought through us. And we can only ever do this when we begin to pay attention to ALL our thoughts, no matter how tired or worn out they may feel. We do this by looking and then letting go (we try not to hold on or reject any of our thoughts). When we do this there is a very natural flow to the whole process.
These ‘other’ thoughts are from the mind of Christ and they will change your life, your behaviour… in fact sooner or later they will change your whole world. The more we let them in, the more readily they will appear.
These thoughts are rather simple. They will always prompt you to see things the way God sees them and they will be presented to you as a ‘possibility’ or a ‘suggestion’. It will be like these thoughts are saying, “Have you ever thought about it this way?”
None of this will happen until we understand what it means to "be still and know”. Until we make it a practice to observe our own thoughts.
