Still waters

“Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain,” the LORD said to him. Then the LORD passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks but the LORD was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. 1 Kings 19:11–12

Someone once told me that still waters run deep. I guess back then I was just fascinated by the phrase and paid little attention to what it really meant. All through school, I perfected the art of skimming over things. Like a burst of water running over a rock, I read through pages of materials with incredible speed and basically got the general overview. My reading style worked well for me—at least for a while. I prided myself on being able to get through vast amounts of reading materials in an amazingly short period of time. I could also talk about what I had read with great precision but with little conviction.

 

Paying attention to details was never my strongest point. Having a holistic idea was more fun than getting bogged down in details. I felt that getting down to the tiniest detail would mean spending more time in a particular position—and that was no fun at all. I always wanted to do something else, move on to the next phase, and face new heights and challenges. Sadly, my burst of energy, curiosity, and excitement prevented me from really appreciating the little miracles that were easily missed in the rush of daily living.

 

Well, many years after I left school, I ran into some friends and we talked about days long gone by. I was amazed at the many things I hadn’t noticed—the vast details of the information I had read but not retained and the incredible people I had met but paid little attention to. I had forgotten names, faces, scents, and events. I was thrilled to know that my friends had not only lived our childhood but it seemed, unlike me, they had really experienced it. When we parted ways, I sat back and gave a second thought to my high-speed attitude to life. It was then that I really understood what was meant by still waters run deep. It is a good thing to move ahead in time but it’s more profitable to really live out every passing moment.

 

You can only walk through life’s lane once; you should ensure that you quietly allow every second you breathe to soak into your innermost being. Learn from the maker of time. When God was to meet with Elijah on the mountain top, there was a furious wind that split the hills and scattered the rocks, but God was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was fire and Elijah must have thought surely this is the All-Consuming One! But God was not in the fire. Then God’s soft voice whispered to Elijah.

 

I know it is very easy to join in the hustle and bustle of life and hurry off to live out the next day, so much so that we forget the blessings in the minute details of today. Take a pause every now and then to enjoy the moment you are living in. Make every moment count, take in every second you experience, and embrace the tiny miracles you are fortunate to have. This is living.