Creation Emerges From Stillness

This is part of "The Pulpit" - a monthly segment in the Radical Spirit Catalyst. See the site for more details or sign up here for the newsletter, which is mainly geared to allies in Northern California

I thought I’d write today about the importance of taking space for silence and not-doing, both as a reminder to myself as well as all those extraordinary souls who are doing work on transforming this world.

In the press of deadlines, projects, and campaign-level-intensity, it’s easy for me to forget something that is obvious when I’m on a retreat, vacation, or a mountaintop: creation emerges from stillness. It may not look that way on the surface, but underneath, our creative acts emerge out of pure space. The closer we can get to the silence and stillness at the heart of reality, the more powerfully our creative impulses flow forth. When we align with the vastness of the universe – the Godforce – we become a literal Creator of reality. Also, when I abide in stillness, the waves of intensity of life are no longer threatening. I can watch them crest and keep a steady course. A part of me remains anchored below the drama, so that storms are easy to weather.

I do tend to forget that stillness. In the buzz of daily life, I am quite prone to be seduced by the notion that a single result will change EVERYTHING and then become fixated on making that result happen as fast as possible. When I move into that mode, I lose my ground in stillness and begin to feel the frustration of being out of alignment with the natural, creative flow.

A friend of mine, Mark Ackermoore, likes to talk about manifestation moving at “the pace of grace.” It’s a catchy phrase to remind us that grace has a rhythm to it, one that respects that patterns of organic unfolding. Living at the pace of grace reminds us to see the beauty in even what appear to be obstacles, barriers, and failures. I find myself having to return to this knowing as the number of projects, organizations, and campaigns I’m involved with increase. The challenge is to tune in and find what is ready to move and what is not, trusting that each project will have its right timeframe of ripening.

So I encourage you, for at least a moment today, to remember to allow space for breathing out, resting, and touching the place of stillness in you, thus freeing your attention and energy to let grace flow more naturally through your life. We ARE changing the world. The most enduring changes, though, may well be the ones the emerge almost unbidden and quite effortlessly, from silence.