how the light gets in

Be Still… I feel like we’ve all heard that call in an old hymn or seen it on a trendy chalkboard. But the invitation to BE STILL might be one of the oldest invites ever. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be Still and know that I am God.”
But today, right now, how do I “be still?” Do I literally sit and then how do I know? How can I be still when life is moving and changing and anxiety is growing and fear is battling hard? Well, I know now. You blow bubbles. You. Blow. Bubbles.
Joseph and I were sitting with his therapist unloading all the ugly when she offered us each a bottle of bubbles. Joseph immediately challenged himself to blow the biggest bubble ever. And me? Well, I’m pretty sure I splattered the poor woman with a soapy mess. The hot air coming out of me was not so chill. She encouraged us to shut our eyes and listen for the sounds the bubbles make as they float and pop. She told us to open our eyes and watch the sizes, all the different colors and how they move. She told us to feel the cool pop when the bubbles hit our arms. She told us to inhale the slight, faint smell. Yes, she told us to even let a bubble hit our tongues. People, it took maybe 5 minutes to engage and breathe and take it in. Joseph and I walked into that session all wound up and on the verge of some kinda tantrum. But we walked out of there smiling and calm.
“Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 34:4) The lesson comes before and goes beyond bubbles, clearly. Maybe to Be Still means to take the time to experience your experiences with your God given senses.
I love this story in Luke 10:10… Jesus and his friends had stopped at Martha’s house. “She had a sister called, Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister (my kids, my husband, my co-worker) has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me!’
*PAUSE HERE* because the hustle and the struggle is THOUSANDS of years old. Great, right? Ok, continue…
“Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed –indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha is getting it done and she is busy doing it. All the while, Jesus is at her house. Jesus is sitting in her living room and she comes in to try and throw Mary under the bus for not running around like she is! Exclamation point because I am such a Martha! But Jesus is saying, “Hey, come sit a bit. Let’s hang out.”
I’m trying to Be Still. Learning how to be a Mary. It takes time and effort to experience the experience but it is worth it.
And for me, right now, to Be Still means when Lily grabs my hand to jump in the waves, I let my hand feel how small and soft her little hand is in mine. It means when I have a piece of Grauls cake, I let that buttercream melt in my mouth so slowly I can taste all the heavenly (because it is from heaven) ingredients one by one. It means waking up early so I can remember quiet again. And I use that quiet to sit and listen for the words that can’t be taken away from me.
Jesus meets me right there in my living room at 5:50 every morning and he’s holding Lily’s other hand with me and he’s crying tears of YES watching Joseph jump and dive and laugh in the ocean for HOURS.
It takes time and effort to experience the experience but it is worth it.

Because then you know.