If We Would Still

I’ve got a thing about gorillas. They fascinate me. I’ve read books about them. I’ve begun visiting different zoos to see each zoo’s gorilla exhibits. I love to observe their behaviors, their facial expressions, and mannerisms. Each time I find myself able to watch them I become transfixed by them. Often I’ll sit in front of the exhibits while the crowds gather around, gradually disperse, and gather again. If I had enough time, I’ll spend hours watching them. It’s amazing the things that you notice when you pause and allow time to take in your surroundings. When I watch the gorillas I begin to comprehend their personalities and quirks. I notice things that I would have missed otherwise.

We live lives that offer few easy opportunities for us to stop and still. The blessings of technology create an ever-connected lifestyle that, while offering us convenience and comfort, also presents us with innumerable distractions and temptations. We fill even our free time with appointments and distractions. There are few margins in our lives that afford us the opportunity to still ourselves.

I love to hike and one of the reasons that I love it so much is the prospect of seeing different animals and plants. Often, as I’m hiking along, it appears as if I am alone in the woods. Normally, I just plod along through (there are many miles to go after all) but sometimes (it needs to happen more) I will stop, take a seat, and observe the silence around me. The silence, it turns out, is not silence at all. Birdsong resumes faintly in the distance. The breeze high above moves the boughs. Some animal off in the distance pads along the fallen leaves. All along the silence had not been silence but rather a symphony of activity that I miss 99% of the time when, in haste, I hike on by.

We have erased the margins in our lives. We don’t allow time to pause and examine either ourselves or our surroundings. I even find myself feeling guilty for having downtime. We need to stop. We need to still. We need to relearn how to observe. We will never be healthy until we still ourselves even for a moment. We will miss out on hearing the voice of the Lord if we turn prayer, service, and the Word into another line on a to-do list. We will never perceive the hurts and needs of our neighbors if we never allow time for a “purposeless” conversation. Let us stop. Let us still. Let us listen and observe.