Author: Dave Dishman (Page 178 of 458)

It’s hard to sit still. When I pause for a few minutes I quickly think of something that needs doing. Fixing something around the house or mowing the grass pops to mind. Accomplishing a task pushes aside stillness.

My phone opens a variety of options to counteract stillness. I check the news—what’s Putin up to? I read an interesting article on Croatia. I daydream. I find it hard to focus and stay still.

Yet the Lord is not found in busyness, but in stillness. So clever, to be discovered in plain sight, if only I might slow my mind enough to see.

The Lord spoke these words through the Sons of Korah: Be still, and know that I am God. I understand the concept, but I find it hard to practice. Recently, however, I learned a different way to pray this verse from my wife. Maybe you’ll find it helpful as well.

Breathe deeply and close your eyes. Then repeat the verse slowly, over and over, but each time drop a word from the end. I find the practice helps me focus, and the change of each line opens space to sense beyond the immediate.

Find a quiet moment and try it a few times:

Be still, and know that I am God.

Be still, and know that I am.

Be still, and know that I.

Be still, and know that.

Be still, and know.

Be still, and.

Be still.

Be.

Psalm 46 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Rasmus Smedstrup Mortensen

In what turned out to be the final words in his final letter, Paul charged the young pastor, Timothy, with these ideas:

Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Paul warned Timothy that the work won’t be easy. People will find the way of Jesus too challenging and too constraining. They will flutter to teachings that promote what their itching ears want to hear, turning away from the truth and rejecting Timothy in the process.

Regardless of what comes, Paul encouraged: But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

On other words, do the work and spread the faith. Stay true to the scriptures despite the unpopularity of the message. Remain constant and dependable—there’s a lot to be said for steady.

Paul’s charge is applicable to both me and you. It instructs us to maintain composure, endure difficulties, openly proclaim our faith, and stay true to the teachings of the Bible.

Like Timothy, let us hold steady and keep the faith.

2 Timothy 4 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Anne Nygård

Chaos engulfed my backyard sanctuary this past week. Initially, a family of raccoons took up residence under our deck. I worked a couple of summers ago to completely cut off all access below the deck using wire mesh, leaving one small opening for a water hose with a cover in place. Those diabolical raccoons flipped the cover and moved on in.

After a couple nights of hazing the raccoons, in a bleary-eyed state I poured my coffee and gazed out the window at a mama skunk and her two adolescents clawing around in our flowers. Alarmed and caffeinated, I launched the defense of my gardens.

Along with the hygiene issues and the smell, skunks wreak havoc by digging for grubs and worms, thus uprooting sensitive plants. Raccoons will eat most anything, including the best a garden produces. In just a few days, these critters can undo months and months of work.

Which is what came to mind this morning when I read this bit of wisdom from Solomon: One sinner destroys much good.

Satisfying, beneficial ways of living can be undone by one person out for destruction. Gun violence steals innocent lives, and drunk drivers do the same. Vandals close parks and ruin access for all. When I look around, plenty of evidence supports Solomon’s insight.

As much as possible, you and I and our society must watch for the “one sinner” and slow them where we can. Perhaps we can avoid at least some of the ruin such a person brings.

As for the varmints in my yard? By aiming bright lights under the deck I edged the raccoons out, then I screwed down the hose cover—foiling them for now.

The battle still rages with the skunks. I filled holes under the fence and scattered mothballs. I’m hoping the fox that roams our neighborhood comes to my aid—I’ll embrace any ally in this epic struggle of man versus beast.

Ecclesiastes 9 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Bryan Padron