Let Us Be Still

By Kay West
@aworldwidesisterhood
awordlwidesisterhood.com

What an interesting thing to live through a worldwide pandemic.

This time last year, we were home. We only went out to get necessities, and the stores and streets were empty. The whole world seemed to be still.

There were definite hardships that came with the lockdown. I do not downplay any effect it had on anyone, nor do I think that it was nothing, and we should all just get over it. It has affected us all in different ways, so I can only relate my personal experience and what I learned.

For me personally, I searched and sought my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I received a sense of peace.

Just before the pandemic, I was busy. I rushed around, and my life was full of so much good but so much busy. I learned that not all my busy was created equal, and not all my good was best.

I learned that to have stillness was to invite Christ into my life each day.

My son is learning Spanish for his mission. During our family scripture study and discussion, he shared something that really hit me. He mentioned that “fun” in Spanish is “divertido” (masculine) or “divertida” (feminine) which means diversion or diverting.

There are two ways I view this. That something diverted my attention, and it kept me entertained. It was good. Or, perhaps that the casual “fun” diverted my attention from what was vital. I consider vital to be anything that helps me progress spiritually along the path that leads to eternal exaltation and salvation.

We live in a world where there is a lot of diversions. A lot of noise. A world where even good noise is still noise, and sometimes it can overwhelm.

A world full of commotion.

“Commotion in the world will continue to increase. In contrast, the voice of the Lord is not “a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but … it [is] a still voice of perfect mildness, [like] a whisper, and it [pierces] even to the very soul.” In order to hear this still voice, you too must be still!” -President Russell M. Nelson, April 2021 General Conference

I think of the stillness I have felt this past year. The whole world felt like someone had pressed pause, and I felt a desire to know what the Lord would have me learn during this opportunity. And I knew I had to learn in stillness. I felt prompted to focus on spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical learning. I felt a great sense to increase my knowledge because when the pandemic eased enough for the world to return to a new normal, there would be an increase in busyness.

And there was.

But as the busy increased, I have searched for stillness. I have sat in peace while the commotion rises. I have learned that if I am not still, if I do not actively seek a consistent pause in my day to listen, to hear Him, then I have come out of this year learning nothing of the eternal.

And as our prophet has warned, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” -President Russell M. Nelson, April 2018 General Conference

And that is where we will find the Spirit. In the stillness. That is where the Spirit will testify and teach us. In the stillness.

Because “… a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” -1 Kings 19:11-12

I know there is power in stillness. There is an undeniable connection to Jesus Christ when we stop ourselves from being distracted and instead let our thoughts linger on the eternal.

And so, as we return to the busy, let us not forget to set aside the distraction and the commotion that surrounds us.

Let us be still.

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