"Be Still My Heart"
On Ground Hog’s Day when I took the Megabus from Chicago to Minneapolis, I met a man named Tony. We commiserated together while we waited the hour for the bus to arrive as we stood in the snow and cold. Once on the bus he sat behind me, and we talked unceasingly. I was seated at one of the tables they have on the bus; and, when the two girls sitting across from me left, he asked if he could sit across from me. When he moved over, I got my first really good look at him. The words “Be Still My Heart” immediately came to mind as I put my hand on my heart. Nice looking, funny, kind and he asked such great questions and even listened to my answers!
As I was preparing for Ash Wednesday, I found 6 beautiful candles to place on the altar and removed all the other candles. Gina put up the purple draping on the cross. I stood back in the dimly lit sanctuary, and it took my heart away, and I put my hand over my heart and said: “Be still my heart.”
The verses for Ash Wednesday spoke of the heart. Matthew 6: 21: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Joel 12: 12, 13: "Return to me with all your heart…rend your hearts and not your clothing.” And, the next day was Valentine’s Day. The day of hearts.
I intentionally built silence, stillness, into our Lenten services, and it occurred to me that God wants our hearts to be still. God wants us to spend time in silence. The busier we are, the more we need that silence. During Lent it is a good time to think about stilling our hearts and opening them up to the Lord - to rend them for God. Joel made me realize, though, how much easier it is to rend my clothing and look like I’m repentant and dwelling with God than it is to rend my heart, be still and let God enter with no one else knowing.
We all long for stillness and silence. Our souls crave that time with God. A time when we can rest contented trusting God to take care of everything else. The busier we get the more we need it. All those bright and shiny things that distract us from God need to be silenced. When we are overcome with such things, we need to put our hands over our hearts and say: “Be still my heart. Be still in God."
May you place your hand over your heart and repeat those words. Possibly over and over again until that peace and stillness of God is yours. It’s something we have to practice over and over because it is sometimes within our grasp and sometimes just at the end of our fingertips just out of our reach. Rend your hearts to God this Lent and not your clothing.
God loves you and so do I!
Hope
