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Great article "From Fr. Mark" If you watch or listen to the news lately, there is no shortage of frightening news. It seems that all the news has a dire edge to it and lots of anxiety is being generated. Many are becoming more and more unsettled about the future. The future seems a bit bleak especially when it comes to economic difficulties. How are we believers supposed to respond to this? One of my favorite lines in the Old Testament comes out of the Book of Exodus. The line comes from a scene in which the Israelites are complaining to Moses because they are being pursued by Pharaoh. Moses had led them out of Egypt where they had all been very much oppressed, and now Pharaoh, who was incensed, was making good time in catching up to them. The Israelites were terrified. Moses attempts to calm them down, but they will hear none of it. They are so frightened of what the pharaoh might do to them that they would much rather return to a life of slavery. Moses tells them to stand firm, to “get a grip” and stop being afraid. Then, when the people are silenced, Moses says this line (my favorite): “Fear not ... The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still!” I love that line because it reminds us about what we can do when we are overcome by fear. It is a way out of the terror that racing thoughts and heart-squeezing worries can cause us if we let them run wild in our imagination. The pathway out of fear is the way of calm, peaceful thoughts. These calm and peaceful thoughts have tremendous power to calm the surging waves of fear. How does one get to calm, peaceful thoughts when your thoughts are racing around in you head? The answer is found in what Moses said to the Israelites that day, “You have only to be still.” By literally stopping ourselves in our own tracks, by turning off the mind for a moment, and by being completely still, we can create a space in which God himself can reach out to us and give us peace. Peace is, after all, the gift that Jesus promised to give, and it is, as Jesus said, a peace that the world cannot give. Purposeful pausing to catch our breath, to stop the racing that's going on in us, and the finding of a point of stillness will open a doorway to God that many have not yet discovered. This week, as you may continue to hear dire news about our economy, the situations of violence around the world, or if there are difficulties in your own family, perhaps it might be a good thing if you were to take a few minutes for some purposeful pausing so that peace can come for you. From Fr. Mark
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