The Art of Being Still

I've devoted a fair amount of attention over the years (at least trying) to cultivating some semblance of spiritual quiet and stillness.  Besides annual retreat, most often in a monastic setting, and an on-again-off-again practice of tai chi, I've read Introduction to Emptiness by Guy Newland, Quiet Mind by David Kundtz, The Little Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, Doing Nothing by Steven Harrison, The Art of Doing Nothing by Veronique Nienne, George Prochnik's In Pursuit of Silence and Erling Kagge's Silence in the Age of Noise, and just recently received a copy of The Lost Art of Silence by Sarah Anderson, as well as a whole host of other such readings, including even How to Sit, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

In all of these, it might seem that I'm searching for ways to get away with doing as little possible, but it actually is just the opposite.  As Pico Iyer put it in The Art of Stillness, "Stillness has nothing to do with settledness or statis," but "the point of gathering stillness is...to bring that calm into the motion, the commotion of life."  It's like going on retreat: the point is not to withdraw for withdrawal's sake, but like Jesus (e.g. Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16), to withdraw for a time in order to renew one's self and so be able to serve more effectively.  A daily practice of stillness makes it all the more possible to have the energy and focus to do what needs to be done and not diffuse energy and focus on distractions.
 
It is a new year, full of peril, full of possibility.  I think time and energy is best served by focusing on possibility!  As Hanh notes, in order to bring a little stillness into the commotion of the day/life, "The first thing to do is to stop whatever else you are doing," then focus on your breathing, then become aware of ("mindful" is the word most often used) and grateful for the incredible gift of being alive.  As this new year continues to unfold, I intend to further nurture the deeper understanding of stillness/silence in order to be able to continue to serve St. Andrew's as well as I can, keeping in mind the wisdom with which Iyer closed his short treatise: In an age of speed, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.  In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.  And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

— Marc Vance, Associate Rector