Be still . . .

Post by Louise Brooks

Outside my kitchen window, in a tree at the edge of my little Arlington backyard, there was a bird that sat on a branch.  But this bird was so still that I thought it was simply a leaf shaped like a bird.  I spent at least one full minute staring out the window in study and examination as my thoughts fluttered between being sure that what I saw was a leaf . . . no, a bird!  Wait!  Then – just when I squinted hard enough to see that, yes, indeed, it was just a leaf shaped like a bird – it flew away.

I am stunned by the stillness of this bird.  Not a twitch or a ruffle or a song to hint at what it is.  Just a bird.  At rest.  And I am convinced once again that if I, too, were more like this bird – still, at rest, not distracted – not only would I have better eyesight, but then I, too, could fly.

Be still.

“Be still and know that I am God.”  (Psalm 46:10)

“The LORD gives sight to the blind.”  (Psalm 146:8)

“My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”  (Psalm 25:15)