Good morning…
As we begin this Thanksgiving week, there are places to be and people to see, with a huge list of to-do’s to accomplish. Check. Check. Check. We embody the common phrase, “Don’t just stand there. Do something.”
Yet I am drawn to live this week differently.
I return to one sentence from our book for this semester, God’s Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd. On page 90, I read her centering wisdom. “I thought of a sign I’d read on a bulletin board,” writes Sue. “‘Don’t just do something. Stand there.'”
Stand there…breathe.
Stand there…notice.
Stand there…accept.
Stand there…savor.
Stand there…admire.
Stand there…trust.
Stand there…pray.
Stand there…ask,
“God, what might be next?”
Stand there…listen.
Stand there…respond.
Stand there…witness.
Stand there…embody.
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” (Romans 8:15, MSG).
On the next page I read: “‘The more we receive in silent prayer,’ said Mother Theresa, ‘the more we can give our active lives.’ In fact, when we immerse ourselves in God’s presence, our active involvement itself becomes a prayer.”
“Once awakened in the depths of our souls to the presence of God as a way of life,” writes Sue, “we will also hear a voice that whispers, and sometimes shouts,
‘This is My world.
Touch its wounds.
Heal its injustice.
Love it for Me.’
Inward movement ultimately becomes outward movement, borne on a wave of God’s presence.” Now then, stand still and watch this great thing the Lord is going to do right before your eyes (1 Samuel 12:16, GW).
Don’t just do something. Stand there. Catch the wave of God’s guiding presence.
…Sue…
