Spiritual stillness

SPORTS can be tremendously instructive. In tennis, for instance, the player who hustles is at a distinct advantage, provided he anticipates the opponent's shots correctly. But hustling too soon can be a distinct disadvantage. Chasing across the court blindly is a fruitless and exhausting endeavor.

In life, are we frantically chasing after symptoms or mindlessly reacting to crises? Instead, let's calmly root out inharmony through prayer.

We can be spiritually still in the midst of sorrow, illness, confusion, or lack, if we rest thought on the allness of God, divine Love, and on our unity with Him. Before attacking any challenge, we can feel the peace that comes from communing with God. As omnipresent Spirit He is right where we are, governing us and all creation. When we perceive this truth, our actions will be inspired, intelligent, appropriate, and effective.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes: ''The best spiritual type of Christly method for uplifting human thought and imparting divine Truth, is stationary power, stillness, and strength; and when this spiritual ideal is made our own, it becomes the model for human action.''

n1 retrospection and Introspection, p. 93.m

We may want to be quiet and alone as we turn in heartfelt prayer to our Father-Mother God. On the other hand, many have known ''the secret place of the most High'' in busy places: a crowded bus, a noisy supermarket, a raucous business meeting. Essential to our sense of stillness is thought reaching heavenward-longing, yearning, to know and prove the supremacy of God, good.

Being spiritually still requires that we quiet fear.It means refusing to admit the thought that sorrow or sickness is legitimate, refusing to accept the mistaken belief that they are of God. It involves replacing the evidence of the physical senses with spiritual facts, readily discernible to spiritualized, or God-centered, consciousness. Thought that is still-conscious of divine Love's presence-is fasting from a material sense of life and drinking in God's revelation of His all-power.

Being still in Spirit enables us to zero in on the need at hand with metaphysical precision. We're not flailing about at side issues-distracted, frightened, or appalled by the appearance of evil. Rather, we're able to discern quickly and specifically the actual need of the moment, which divine Love inevitably cares for.

Ultimately, it's the reality of God and His good that impels us to disarm any evidence of discord. It's our conscious, active awareness of divine Spirit, ever-present Love, that dethrones anything unlike God in our lives. Our stillness, our prayer-flooded thought, recognizes the presence of good and thus enables us to nullify the ragings of a so-called power opposed to God.

Moses knew the might of spiritual stillness. Again and again he had to quiet the fears of the children of Israel as they fled from Egypt and journeyed forty years in the wilderness. Most dramatic perhaps is the scene at the Red Sea: Egyptian soldiers were fast approaching on one side and a threatening natural barrier loomed on the other. We can imagine the terror and confusion of the vast horde of Israelites.

Moses, communing even then with his heavenly Father, had an answer. With supreme moral courage and the utmost faith in divine Spirit, he declared, ''Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day . . . . The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.''

n2 Exodus 14:13, 14.

The band of followers were told to go forward, despite the surging sea in front of them. As Moses lifted his rod (symbolic of the power of God), the waters parted. In triumphant victory, the children of Israel passed through the sea on dry ground and were saved that day from the Egyptians.

Our salvation, even when more gradual, is just as sure. Christ Jesus taught his followers to turn to God in utter spiritual stillness when mortal life rages. In communion with divine Love, we can discern Love's supremacy and thereby gain a victory. Instead of being tossed to and fro, instead of chasing down the various phases of discord, we can rest secure in God's allness. Our peace, health, joy, and safety are assured as we, too, ''stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.'' DAILY BIBLE VERSE Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted Among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10