The Art of Being Still…

As I began perusing Facebook this morning I was bombarded by a number of posts that ranged from celebrity beefs, celebrity breakups, the growing amount of racism, racial slips and slurs by more celebrities, police brutality, animal cruelty, deaths, sexual perversions within families, thefts, murders, moralistic decline and the continuing confederate flag dramatization.  The only flag I could see during those moments was a red flag that seems to protrude from my now overtaxed mind and broken heart.  My soul began to cry out, because of so much sickness, sadness and tragedy, usually when I am in such a place I search the scriptures to find answers for solace/understanding.   The overwhelming  sense of disgust leads me to Luke 8:17 “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”  Random thoughts of justice begin to enter my head as I am infuriated by the lack of human decency.  I begin to place blame on our country as a catalyst, because the United States was no longer the golden child of leadership.   I am reminded of the many wars that the United States has fought abroad all in the name of “putting on a good face,” while our relations at home were “going to hell in a hand basket!”  We are literally throwing out the baby with the bath water, while wiping the toilet with its blanket.   We are fraudulent or as my daddy use to refer to as “show boating.”  We are inauthentic fluff, claiming to be the land of the free while shackled by ancient demons of hate and perversion that we can’t seem to cast out, step on, shoot up or shake away.  We are fake, phony, hypocritical and inauthentic!  We are showboating! …I am sad.   

According to urbandictionary.com showing boating is 1. To have a visibly exaggerated idea of ones own skills, talents, or abilities. 2. To exhibit a grotesque amount of undue and unfounded pride for a skill or ability which is actually mediocre.  We are mediocre; we are mere scavengers attacking our symbols of authority.   Our president is doing a wonderful job with a minimal amount of support.  There was a story that was recently  generated on Facebook via twitter which showed a picture of a bald eagle being attacked by two seagulls.  One seagull was seen dangling from the eagles talons, while the other seagull was aggressively attacking the eagle from above.  Seagulls are known as scavengers by nature, preying in large noisy flocks wherever there is food.  After viewing the photo my initial feeling was shock and disgust.  That particular photo reminded me of todays string of post/story on Facebook; the newsfeed seemed to be infested with birds of prey.  When I re-posted  the eagle/seagull story it was met with divided sentiments, some thought that my interpretation was “too negative”  while others agreed that my interpretation was accurate.  We are divided.   God is not divided.  The country may be in division, even fragmented but God is not.  Most times I try to keep my page free of extreme political responses, and intentionally lean toward uplifting christian jargon in order to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, however today depression set in.   I wanted to curse everyone and everything that seem to curse everyone and everything that was weak, helpless and innocent.  Then the light came on, it was no longer about age, gender, race, national origin, etc… It was no longer surface stuff… I could see a spiritual war.  

I realized today that I am drained.  I usually reach for a cup of coffee in order to wake up…instead I felt the need for a cup of tea.  I didn’t care about running to the end of the earth today, I just wanted to relax.  My mind wrestled with Luke 8:17 and my heart just wanted a cup of tea…so I gave in.  As, I began to boil water on the stove top, I then updated my Facebook status “... sometimes you have to allow things to come to a boil.  Then you can have YOUR cup of tea.”  I begin to meditate on my post as I  opened my tea package so that the bag could steep.  There was a bible scripture inscribed on my tea bag, which read “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10, at that moment a sense of calm came over me.  It was if God spoke directly (almost demanded) this request through my tea cup.  Just moments before, I wanted to go out and fight every cause, but that was impossible and overwhelming.   My heart was divided, even torn for each one of them.   I didn’t know where to start, I was angry, hurt, wanting to curse the whole American process, but then realizing that each group of individuals were also victims.  I digressed and went back to my Facebook post and began to edit, “Sometimes you have to allow things to come to a boil, then you can have GOD’s cup of tea.” I then revisited my original scripture Luke 8:17 “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”   I was so angry about the  information overload on my FB news feed, that I approached my biblical understanding narrowly, excluding the title and the subtitle that encased Luke 8:17.  By doing so, I took the scripture out of context.  Rereading, I discovered that Luke 8 title is “Many Women Minister to Jesus,” the subtitle of 8:17 being “The parable of the revealed light”.   

        There is a time for everything under the sun, knowing what time that might be, is about relationship.  It is not about reading outer signs or being overly busy, but being still before an Almighty God.  Now that I’ve spurted and boiled it is now time to steep and pray.  

Selah