*The stillness of a weaned child*
`But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.Psalms 131:2`
An unweaned child is a noisy child. The unweaned child has learned that eventually noise leads to the satisfaction of its desires. Even if it doesn’t, the noise itself appears to bring some relief. Or at least it makes others as miserable as the unweaned one. The weaned child, however, has learned that the presence of the mother is about more than immediate satisfaction of desire. The weaned child has become capable of stillness. The weaned child can have a whole new form of communication and relationship with its mother.
Now the mother is more than simply one who exists to satisfy need, to take away hunger. The mother can become a person, not just a need-meeter. Weaning means learning to live in stillness with unfulfilled desires. It is the mark of maturity. The psalmist says this is a picture of my soul. I have learned to still my heart. There has been a spiritual weaning process so that I am no longer at the mercy of my desires and reflexes and demands. God is becoming more than just the Meeter of My Needs. I am entering into a new era of listening. I have stilled my soul. How often is God at work, seeking to speak to us if only you will listen? You are ready to speak in anger, to say hurtful words, but something gives us pause, and you find yourself holding your tongue. This is the stillness that makes God’s voice be heard.
Stillness is always the prerequisite for receptivity. Telephones and television sets cannot receive messages when they are too filled with static and noise. Stillness first, then listening. The order cannot be reversed. _“Be still, and know that I am God,”_ quotes the psalmist.
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin