Stillness Which Renews Our Souls
What is renewal all about? How does it feel to us? Is there a place we can go which renews our souls?
Some of us seek renewal by focusing more of our attention and effort on doing what we do. We set out with fresh determination to make a renewed effort. Our renewal may be a matter of our attitude or our mindset for us.
We take a deep breath, look at what we are trying to accomplish, and start again.
Other people try to feel renewed by taking time away from what they do. Renewal may be a matter of having a cold drink, taking a hot shower, or getting a good night’s sleep. Our renewal may come with getting a massage or have a significant conversation.
We may take a renewing trip or go away on a retreat.
Some of us find renewal by spending time with other people, and some by being alone.
Many of us start paying attention to renewal again in March. We may have been through months of cold and snowy weather. It can feel like the whole world has been frozen solid. Even the trees look dead.
In March, our hearts and our hope start to be renewed again.
Trees start to remind us they are still alive and growing. Color begins to emerge again in a world which has been made of white and grey.
The regular turning of the earth and change of seasons slowly renews our souls.
When we are renewed it is more than simply being refreshed or even restored, more than a fresh start. Being renewed we become new again, only better and wiser than we were before.
As we take time to listen to sacred stillness it is the stillness which renews our souls.
What is it About Stillness Which Renews Our Souls?
When we listen to sacred stillness we reconnect and remember. Deep spiritual truths which lay dormant within us begin to send shoots toward the surface.
We close our eyes, relax our bodies, and listen to the renewing rhythms of stillness. For a period of time we choose not to pay attention to the stresses and tensions of life. We set aside the expectations and other distractions which keep us from listening deeply.
Stillness is our natural habitat which we have forgotten.
As we listen to it we remember how and why stillness is sacred to us. We are renewed as we recognize the roots we have forgotten and neglected. Listening to sacred stillness makes us new again in deeper ways.
Part of the way sacred stillness renews our souls is we are not speaking. There is no pressure for us to think of what we will say or anticipate what anyone else says. We are free to be open to what we hear in the stillness.
Sacred stillness renews our souls because it holds deep wisdom for us. We have gotten used to believing stillness is empty and have forgotten how we listen to it.
Listening reconnects our relationship to sacred stillness and reminds us who we are.
Stillness renews our souls the same ways the month of March renews our appreciation for life around us.
Why Do We Believe Stillness Renews Our Souls?
We believe stillness renews our souls because we experience its healing, renewing power. As we open ourselves to listen to stillness we begin to appreciate how sacred it is.
It is not only that listening helps us feel refreshed or energized. We recognize listening to sacred stillness also renews our bodies and our minds. Renewing our souls is more than the fact we feel better or function better when we listen.
When I take a walk I feel better. My body usually feels better and a walk can help brush the cobwebs from my mind. Walking every day is a practice which renews my body and my mind.
Listening to sacred stillness each day is a practice which renews our souls. There are also benefits for our minds and bodies as it renews our souls.
It is not because there is something magic about sacred stillness. Listening to sacred stillness renews our souls as we open ourselves to its depths.
When we expose ourselves to education, we begin to learn. As we are exposed to sunlight each day our bodies develop vitamin D.
Listening to sacred stillness is not about earning renewed souls. As we open ourselves to deep sacred truths each day it renews our souls.
We can tell our daily practice of listening to stillness renews our souls.
Opening Ourselves to the Stillness Which Renews Our Souls
We do not need to believe what anyone else tells us about listening to stillness. Everything we need to know about the sacredness of stillness we can experience for ourselves.
Renewal is a powerful force in our lives. We believe our lives can be renewed. It is possible for us to renew our bodies and minds. Listening to sacred stillness renews our souls.
As we listen we open ourselves to deep sacred truths. We have forgotten the spiritual roots from which we grow.
Listening to sacred stillness each day helps us recognize and remember spiritual life.
As our souls are renewed we are drawn into deeper relationship with spiritual life.
We realize the earth is not really frozen, covered in white and grey. The tree of life from which we grow is not dead. We are waking up after a long nap.
The world in which we live supports and feeds us, renews our souls. Deep truths we have forgotten or ignored sustain us and renew us.
We are surrounded by and filled with life. Spiritual life embraces us and renews our souls.
Why do we believe listening to sacred stillness renews our souls today?
When will we open ourselves to the stillness which renews our souls this week?
[Image by Daleus, Curmudgeon-at-Large]
Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is StrategicMonk@gmail.com.
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