Still

. . . and leads me beside still waters. 

 - From The Twenty-Third Psalm

As a child growing up in the Penfield Advent Christian Church, in the 1960s, I became very familiar with Psalm 23. During the regular church service, they would recite it once every week, at the same spot in the service. I think it may have been something that they said, chorally, at the end of the sermon, immediately prior to the closing hymn.

It was like The Lord's Prayer. We said it every week, as a congregation. That way, they had a pinnacle-type passage that became memorized, and stated in unison, from both the Old and New Testaments. 

This was a calming, re-assuring practice. Psalm 23 rejoices. It builds. It inspires. The Lord's Prayer surrenders. It does something with our troubles, by handing them off to the Lord. 

What a nice tradition!

I recommend the same practice today, in churches, in homes, and in hearts. Recite the 23rd Psalm. Commit it to memory. Remind yourself of it every day. It covers all the bases. It has an eternal impact.

The world needs more stillness today. It needs love, yes. And it needs peace. But perhaps, before we can have any of that, we need to be still. Our Shepherd, the Lord, leads us beside still waters . . . water that does not threaten us with rushing. Water that doesn't carry us away into dangerous zones. Water that doesn't freeze. Water that does not storm. But rather, water that hydrates us. Water that cools us. 

Still water. 

We need to be still. Right now. Be still and listen. Be still.