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We spent some time in stillness on Sunday night. In a style not too dissimilar to the Quaker ’sermon of silence’ Rach decided to devote the majority of our time together to provide a place where we could be still and concentrate on God.

In her introduction, Rach said that Psalm 46:10 had been in her thoughts numerous times as she thought about preparing for Sunday. But rather than talk about being still, why not ‘be’ still? Good point - so that’s what we did!

Stillness is something that is quite foreign to our experience of life. Busy-ness is more the norm and sometimes the stillness and silence of worship can be lost in favour of movement and noise. That is what we feel comfortable with, but I wonder if we drown out the voice of God in the process. But stillness is an important spiritual discipline that we (or maybe just I) need to reclaim for my spiritual life to continue on the path to maturity.

We can mistakenly believe that stillness means nothing more than not moving. But stillness can still be achieved when we are ‘doing’ something. Stillness is an inner state than can actually be achieved even in the most hectic schedules. It’s hard to describe with words, but easy to recognise when you see it in somebody. They somehow seem calm and peaceful, even content, in constant communion with God and with eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. To reach this sort of level of stillness takes practice.

On Sunday night we had a number of things we could do to help us be still. There were tables set up with craft materials, a table with images of Jesus, cushions on the floor to lie down on, a table to pray for forgiveness, another table with a bowl for offerings, and the carpark outside was set aside to to chalk drawings of what it meant for individuals to be still. Bibles were scattered throughout the entire space and Celtic worship music played in the background.

What happened next is hard to describe. There were people lying, sitting, praying, drawing and reading everywhere I looked. Some were crying, others were laughing. Most were pondering. God’s people were being still and God was speaking. This was worship in  it’s most basic form, but perhaps one of it’s most powerful forms too.

At the end of the night, it was hard to leave that stillness. I’m praying that we can all mature to the point where we don’t have too.