The calming presence of still water soothes the soul. At least my soul.
I remember as a kid reading the book Water Babies by Charles Kingsley and being fascinated by the wondrous adventures of children living under the sea (not knowing that as an adult I would have many underwater escapades in God’s expansive seas). The water babies sailed through the seas in a weightless environment knowing a freedom impossible for land babies to experience. How I loved that book and its impression on my youthful heart!
Even today Water stills my mind whether by sight or sound. My busy brain is quieted—my mind is brought down into my heart—and tranquillity pervades my senses.
How about you? What is the impact of flowing or perfectly still water on your essence? It may not be water. I have friends in Bolivia who resonate much more with soaring mountains than a still pond. The image doesn’t matter as much as its impact on our nervous and fearful hearts. How we need stillness—a stillness that flows from our Divine Creator. This is what matters most of all.
A well loved psalm gets at it clearly when it reads:
The Lord is my shepherd. I still lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. He guides me in paths of righteousness, for his names’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me… (Psalm 23).
Anxious hearts. Turbulent times. Whispers of death. How we need to “let God turn it around” as the song writer reminds us.
My encouragement is to find your point of stillness—your “point vierge” (as Merton calls it). Your place of “quiet waters” where God can still your worried heart and you can find rest in her/his loving arms.