Sunday Morning Update

As the teaching team for Making Disciples prepares for our upcoming seminar, we decided to take advantage of the "breathing room" we have before we begin this evening. My compatriots, many of whom have not been to Washington, DC recently (or ever), decided to take the morning and afternoon to do some sightseeing in the nation's capitol. I, on the other hand, am using this time as a mini retreat.

I woke up refreshed this morning from an extra hour's sleep (thank you Daylight Savings Time) and proceeded to eat a leisurely breakfast in a dining hall overlooking the Potomac River. It resembled something like this:

After breakfast, I spent some time in prayer and then headed out for a walk along the property of the Loyola Retreat House. Fall has just about made its journey in the Chicago area. The cool winds of Autumn are giving way to the frigid gusts of winter. There is an increasing bite to the air and a deeper frost on the ground. Maryland, however, seems to be not quite in the middle of its Fall season. The leaves are still firmly on the trees, and they have not quite "ripened" into the full flaming colors of an Eastern Autumn.

I walked through woods and across roads that were surrounded by the call of birds, the rustle of squirrels and chipmunks, and even the humming of insects that have not quite realized that summer is over. Each step brought me deeper into the mystery that is creation. Along the way, I sat before a still pond, and as I remained there, I felt a mirroring stillness within my own spirit--a profound cessation of thought and activity. I could see a clear reflection of the glorious, autumn-flamed trees in the pond, and I observed this reflection deeply.

As time passed and I stirred from this contemplation, I understood in that moment the truth of the psalmist when he wrote: "Be still and know that I am God." Stillness is a profound condition of the spiritual life. In order for us to better reflect the glory and the beauty of God to a world so desperately in need of it, we must be still, like a pond. Sin and preoccupation create ripples in our spiritual life that disrupt this reflection.

I pray that during this seminar, all of us (participants and teachers alike) will allow the Holy Spirit to still our hearts, minds, and spirits!