Good morning…
“Be where your feet are,” our pastor said in his sermon on Sunday. Be not in the past. Be not in the future. Be here. Be now. Be present. He admits, “This is really hard for me, to be where my feet are.”
I suspect we all battle the same human tendency, to obsess about the past, to worry about the future, to run from this moment, rush, busy, avoid. Sue Monk Kidd, the author of our book for this semester, also struggles to be where her feet are, patient and fully present.
******
Excerpt from When The Heart Waits
It was at this point that I traveled to St. Meinrad Archabbey for a retreat. One day after morning prayer, I walked to the edge of the pond and sat on the grass. I listened to the wind sigh over the water and tried to be still, to simply be there and wait in the moment. But almost instantly my inner chaos rose up. The need to keep moving, to act, to solve everything overpowered me. I got to my feet.
As I returned to the guest quarters, I noticed a monk, ski cap pulled over his ears, sitting perfectly still beneath a tree. There was such reverence in his silhouette, such tranquil sturdiness, that I paused to watch. He was the picture of waiting.
Later I sought him out. “I saw you today sitting beneath the tree – just sitting there so still. How is it that you can wait so patiently in the moment? I can’t seem to get used to the idea of doing nothing.”
He broke into a wonderful grin. “Well, there’s the problem right there, young lady. You’ve bought into the cultural myth that when you’re waiting you’re doing nothing.”
Then he took his hands and placed them on my shoulders, peered straight into my eyes and said, “I hope you’ll hear what I am about to tell you. I hope you’ll hear it all the way down to your toes. When you’re waiting, you’re not doing nothing. You’re doing the most important something there is. You’re allowing your soul to grow up. If you can’t be still and wait, you can’t become what God created you to be.”
Somehow I knew in my soul that his words were God’s words. (22)
******
“Be where your feet are.” Hear it all the way down to your toes. As we wait still, right where we are, our soul grows up and we become what the LORD created us to be, a one-of-a-kind vessel gently overflowing with the words of God.
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:7, NLT).
…Sue…
