Be Still My Soul
By Betty Hertz
Sunday 2:00 AM … sleep isn't coming. Clock is ticking closer to 6:30 AM alarm.
Well, if I can't sleep why not be productive? So, I decided to work on this Peace reflection. As you might have guessed that didn’t go well. No words came. I heard a chuckle from Above. Once again God was laughing at my feeble attempts to calm my anxieties.
I stopped and said a prayer, “God help me quiet my mind. Open my heart to feeling your presence. Give me peace. Amen.”
Of course, sleep came. Although I started the day at 6:30 with limited sleep, I felt calmness in my soul. This event reminded me of a quote of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati: “Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.”
When I quiet my muddled thinking, I make room in my soul for God to enter. When I remember the words, “Be still my soul, the Lord is on my side,” I feel God’s peace. When I am at peace within I can “Go in peace to love and serve my God and go in peace to love and serve my neighbors.”
God,
You declared, “Be still and know that I am God.”
You calmed the wind and waves.
Help me remember you are my strength and refuge.
You bring peace to my soul through the gift of your son, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
Betty Hertz is St. John Lay Leader and a Stephen Minister.