Be Still

Yesterday in our 5^th Sunday class at Church we discussed anxiety and depression. As part of the discussion, it was mentioned that our fast-paced, busy lives contribute to the increase these mental illnesses that we see today. I thought of that as we took a walk in the mountains in the evening and watched the sunset over the Great Salt Lake and the beautiful fall colors of the trees around us. The thought that kept coming to me was a line from one of my favorite novels, L’Aventure Ambiguë by Cheikh Hamidou Kane, that I have written about before: “Ce n’est pas d’un regain d’accélération que le monde a besoin: en ce midi de sa recherche, c’est un lit qu’il lui faut.”  (“The world doesn’t need a resurgence of speed: in this midday of his search, it’s a bed that he needs.”) We need a bed to think and to ponder the most important things in life and to commune with God. We need a bed to slow down from the intense pressures of the world and to focus on that which really matters. We do not need to go faster after some unattainable goal, but rather we need to slow down and follow this invitation of the Savior: “Be still and know that I am God” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:16). In the same part of the novel the father of the main character (“the knight”) also said this: “Est-il de civilisation hord l’équilibre de l’homme et sa disponibilité?  L’homme civilisé, n’est-ce pas l’homme disponible?  Disponible pour aimer son semblable, pour aimer Dieu surtout.” (“Is there civilization outside of the balance of man and his availability? Civilized man, is it not the man who is available? Available to love his neighbor, especially to love God.”) To be civilized is not to be so busy that we do not have time for anyone; rather, the truly civilized man or woman lives such that they are available to love others and serve God.   

                These thoughts led me to listen again to Elder Uchtdorf’s important talk over a decade ago titled Of Regrets and Resolutions. After recounting the findings of a nurse who cared for the terminally ill and reported on how the most universal regret was that people wished they had spent more time with the people they loved, Elder Uchtdorf questioned, “Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life. Is it?” Of course we would all answer that question with our words saying “No, of course not,” and yet I think we have a hard time showing that we truly don’t believe that as we fill our schedules full. Elder Uchtdorf continued, “I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.  I can’t see it. Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.” To be like the Savior doesn’t mean that we have to have the most busy life possible; rather, it means that we must give our love to those around us in the most meaningful way possible. As I read through the beatitudes this morning, I noticed that none of them include items that we need to do. We find these in 3 Nephi 12:3-9: 

·         “Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

·         “And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

·         “And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

·         “And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

·         “And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

·         “And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

·         “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” 

The Lord invites us to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger after righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, and to be a peacemaker. None of those is something we obtain by completing a set of tasks or working through the items of a To Do list. Rather, they are all related to the state of our heart and who we are becoming. Being “busy”, even with good things, is not a sign that we are getting close to becoming as the Savior wants us to be. Certainly, there are many things we indeed need to do, but we must not let those get in the way of taking the time to become as this list describes. When tempted to give our lives a resurgence of speed as we chase after the success of the world, we must seek instead to find our figurative bed and commune with God.