Psalm 23 (Leslie Brandt)

Point of Contact: The importance of laughing at ourselves

Deserts – Anyone been to one?

Anyone been anywhere where you cannot hear a sound?

My desert experiences – Western Australian desert, The Kimberleys

INTRODUCTION

Our world of noise – dishwashers, washing machines, blenders, slamming doors, children’s voices, angry voices, the drone of traffic, the radio, the TV, the roar of planes and sirens – all common for us. What about in some countries – the sounds of gunfire, bomb blasts or an extra heavy knock on the door. Some of these we can control, others we can’t.

How can we rid ourselves of the strange empty restlessness of this tragic age?

We often wish we could let it fall away like the worn out dusty cloak that it is – yet a cloak that was once considered beautiful. The restlessness was considered the magic carpet to tomorrow, but now we see it for what it really is; a running away from ourselves, and a turning from that journey inward that every person must take in order to meet God and discover him dwelling within the depths of their souls.

We long for the desert, for solitude, serenity, silence and we get stuck with ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’. (Example of Paula – she will try, try, try.)

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

Old Testament Example – Elijah the prophet was a ‘doer’ and there was a time when he was on the run for his life, fleeing from the city, seeking God’s protection from a powerful woman, Jezebel. Elijah, the man of faith, hiding in fear, seeking God but failing to find him in the mountains or in the wind. He didn’t find Him in the earthquake or the fire, so finally refocussed his thoughts in silence, and it was in the ‘sheer sound of silence’ that Elijah heard the voice of God.

New Testament Example – The Transfiguration. Peter ruined it by having to do something. Jesus was offering a glimpse of the mystery and majesty of the Spirit and Peter could not receive it. He couldn’t stay still long enough to gaze in awe and listen in silence. Who was the poet who said ‘What is life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’

What is the great cry of the human heart? Is it not to connect with our Creator? According to the New Testament, the culmination of our being is ‘union with Christ’. It’s not doctrines such as justification by faith or sanctification of the spirit or even reconciliation with the Father. These are means to the great end of being in union with Christ (Gal 2:20). Whoever is united with the Lord becomes one spirit with him (1 Cor 6:17).

WHAT ABOUT ME?

What is my desire? It is neither what you are nor what you have been that God sees with his all-merciful eyes, but what you desire to be. The life of a Christian is a love affair, a life of love given freely in response to the Father’s love. So the main aim of prayer is to know God through love.

How does that happen?

Today, everywhere people are talking about relationship with one another, relationship building in the workforce in our schools even in politics. Even Bill Clinton in his BBC Dimbleby lecture talks about the necessity of building relationship with other nations.

Relationship with Jesus Christ is so much more important. Is it possible?

I believe it is. Deserts, silence, solitudes are an essential part of relationship building. Being together, away from others, learning to relate to each other is beautiful. But I have found that solitudes are not necessarily places but states of the mind and the heart. They can be found in the midst of the city, and in every day of our lives. We need only to look for them and realise our tremendous need for them. They will be small solitudes, little deserts, tiny pools of silence, but the experience they will bring, if we choose to enter them, may be as exultant and as holy as all the deserts of the world, even the one God himself entered. Because it is God who makes solitude, deserts and silences holy.

Think about the solitude of walking home from the station in the evening, and the solitude that greet you as you enter your room to change into more comfortable clothes and shoes. Consider the solitude when the last child has gone to bed, or to school and you sit down with a cup of coffee before you start the tasks of the day, or even the silence of sewing or ironing

THE PLACE OF MUSIC

Now, let’s be clear here. Solitude is only a temporary thing, otherwise it becomes an escape. Music too can bring serenity to frayed nerves. If you have looked at all into music therapy you may have heard of the ‘Mozart Effect’ – the notion that exposing children to the melodies of that maestro can improve verbal ability, spatial intelligence, creativity and memory. I’ll leave you to research that one, but Don Campbell of Boulder, Colorado, an expert on sound in healing and education put his own views to the test when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal blood clot in his brain. As he recounts in his book ‘The Mozart Effect: Tapping the power of music to heal the body, Strengthen the Mind, and unlock the Creative Spirit’, he refused surgery, instead combining imagery, prayer and humming as his treatment. As he softly hummed a tune he attempted to massage away the clot from within. He envisioned the sound as a vibrating hand over the right side of his skull, then travelling through his body. The calming exercise, he suggests, encouraged the release of endorphins and other positive biochemical changes in his body.

WHAT IS THE SKILL TO BE STILL?

1.. I have already said we need to accept who we are and believe we are loved by God. 2.. We can practise the art of standing still and unwinding, but we still feel that emptiness, like a hole inside our being which we have been filling with activity. 3.. Being still without filling our empty void has some benefits but they rarely last. 4.. The skill to be still involves listening. True lovers spend time listening. They are intent on getting to know each other. God’s eternal plan for each of us was always that he should fill that void. But just as lovers cannot share each others’ lives without each others’ permission, so God awaits our permission. 5.. To develop this skill we have to want to. The psalmist said ‘As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you O God.’ 6.. Once we recognise this longing we simply take steps toward God – it’s like a departure. As you depart for a real desert by bus or plane, we can take little departures all through the day and find ‘little solitudes’. They are often right behind a door which we can open, or in a small corner where we can stop and gaze at a tree just suddenly in blossom, or a bird perching in a tree and fluffing its feathers against the wind. There is the solitude of the car in which we return home bumper to bumper on a crowded freeway. This can be a ‘point of departure’ into a desert, silence, solitude. 7.. It can only happen if our hearts, souls and minds are wanting it. Right there on the freeway, God an say as he said to Hosea (2:14) ‘I will lead you into solitude and there I will speak to your heart.’ 8.. Silence is sometimes the absence of speech, but it is always the ‘act of listening.’ The mere absence of noise is not necessarily silence and a day filled with noise and voices can be a day of silence if we open our ears to listening to God. 9.. How do we achieve this solitude? By standing still and looking deep into the motivations of life. In the midst of our daily occupation our souls can be turned to God. I must journey inward to meet the triune God who dwells within me. 10.. Although it is sometimes helpful to have a special place to pray (an ‘oratory’), prayer is interior, it can happen anywhere, it is a contact between God and me. So to say I must have solitude in which to pray is a fallacy. 11.. Finally, the skill to be still, when practised is never just for me, it must lead me to service for others. (Rev. Jan Croucher, August 2002)

Related Articles:

• PRAYER OF A HUMBLE SERVANT
• Solidarity in Weakness
• 25 LISTS OF EVERYTHING INTERESTING/IMPORTANT
• Braco’s Enchanting Gaze (what do you make of this?)
• God’s love (by Richard Rohr)

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