I looked at my husband this morning and sighed, ‘I just want to stay in bed all day!’
He told me ‘It’s the first day of December – you have gate fever. Summer is coming’
And yes, summer is coming, and so is the silly season, and I realised that the reason I wanted to stay in bed is that I am feeling overwhelmed by all the different items that I somehow need to slot into the calendar – the rehearsal and the viewing of DS’s dance concert, the body corporate Christmas party, the Discipline of Chemistry Christmas party, the ACROSS Christmas party, (thank goodness there’s no party for DH’s work this year) – as I write this I receive an email for another university school Christmas party, I can’t believe it! There’s the lovely family coming to stay, DD is also coming and will need to be picked up and is apparently organising an engagement party for her friend. There’s the tutoring Christmas breakup, there’s all the church things and the different family Christmas dinners to organise. There’s the summer school that I’m teaching that needs to be organised and set up. There’s a meeting in January that I’m trying to get together. There’s our weekend away mid-January in Melbourne and all the house swapping that has happily come together for that.
And then because this time of the year is supposed to be less busy than the rest of it, I am also trying to organise lunch and dinner dates with friends, and the doctor, dentist and optometrist appointments that I have been putting off all year.
I have spent days staring at my calendar trying to make sure that I’m not missing anything. I feel rushed. I feel harried. I know that each thing individually is worth my time and attention but together they are a mess of dates and times, travel and organisation.
This morning’s job was to start working on the church service that I am MC-ing on Sunday. I went through the plan, slotting in the musicians, the readers, the person giving the sermon. I wondered if we were doing Advent candles this year and if I should try to add some zing, some shazam, something absolutely awesome so that everyone will be thrilled with the service and what it represents – a chance to celebrate together.
Then I thought I’d read the psalm that has been set for Sunday. It is Psalm 46. It’s a lovely psalm. ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear…’ etc. etc. Lovely.
Then came the second last verse. ‘Be still, and know that I am God’
Be still
Be
I heard recently that if you look at the original words in the original language (bible scholar I am not) the psalm actually says the equivalent of
SHUT UP!
It’s a command. It’s not a nice suggestion. You’ve been told! And boy did I need to be told today. I needed it to cut across my hurries and my worries, all the swirling thoughts and emotions.
I sat at my desk. I sat still. I closed my eyes. And I realised that you can’t be still for thirty seconds and then get on with life. It takes time to be still and know that He is God. It takes time. Like any relationship. These things take time.
Then, because I am me, I opened my eyes and wrote this blog post. But now I will post it, and spend a little more time being still. And I intend to continue being still, on and off, through the week and through the month.
I pray for you, this silly season, opportunities to be still. I pray that you take them, that you make them, and that they bring an anchor into your life that will hold you through all the emotions, through all the rushing, and will allow you to know the reason for the season.