Be Still, My Soul

These were the things that impressed me today as I read and prayed and contemplated.

First, the reading of the Scripture verse in Mark 4:38-41.
"...and they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And being aroused, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, "Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?" And they became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

Then this poem by Wendell Berry.

"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

And finally, this hymn, favorite of Grandma Ursula's ( it used to make her cry)

"Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side!
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide-
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul, thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake -
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul, the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul, the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last."

It is a blessing to me when I am able to see how God is speaking to me through His word and the words of mere men. I have needed this stillness of soul, this encouragement to have faith that God is good. I can live my life in freedom from fear that He will take away that which I love the most. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.." I John 4:18