Today’s guest post is by Alice. She blogs at The Life I am Choosing… and has done guests posts at FMH.
Be Still and Know that I am God.
Words are interesting. The word Still, as in, “be still” can mean many things. It can mean physically still, or, as I always interpreted the scripture, it can mean to be emotionally still or calm. The footnote for still in this case references the word Silence.
Be Silent and know that I am God.
Personal revelation, is, I think, one of the many amazing things about our church. We have prophets and apostles to guide us and teach us, but ultimately, each of us are responsible for developing our own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. Elder Oaks in our recent conference spoke on the priesthood line of communication with our Heavenly Father, and the personal line. He spoke how both lines of communication are needed and work together, but that,
“The priesthood line does not supersede the need for the personal line. We all need a personal testimony of truth. As our faith develops, we necessarily rely on the words and faith of others, like our parents, teachers, or priesthood leaders. But if we are solely dependent on one particular priesthood leader or teacher for our personal testimony of the truth instead of getting that testimony through the personal line, we will be forever vulnerable to disillusionment by the action of that person. When it comes to a mature knowledge or testimony of the truth, we should not be dependent on a mortal mediator between us and our Heavenly Father.” (Oct 2010 Gen. Conference)
Several years ago, I struggled to understand a certain issue. I talked with my family, I spent a lot of time praying for an answer, but in my search for an answer, even in my prayers, I didn’t sit and listen for an answer.
One Sunday, as I sat in sacrament meeting singing the hymn, I had a rare moment where my children were sitting quietly, and I could really focus on the words we were singing.
As we were singing, I felt a peace, that told me that even though I didn’t have all the answers, it was okay, that things would work out if I was patient. While we were singing, I allowed my mind to be silent, and was able to hear, not the answer I had been looking for, but the one that Heavenly Father had been waiting to give me.
Elder Hales stated, “Revelation comes on the Lord’s timetable, which often means we must move forward in faith, even though we haven’t received all the answers we desire.”
In the times of my life when I’m searching for answers to questions, this is important to me, I may not always get an answer in the timeframe I’m hoping, or the answer may be different than what I expected. Elder Neil L Anderson shared an experience where as a young man, he received an answer to his prayers that told him, “You don’t know everything, but you know enough!”
The 9th article of Faith says that we believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things…
I may not always receive all the answers I’d like, but I have received enough to have faith to carry me through when there are things I don’t know.
The line, Be still and know that I am God, can be read two ways. One is a command, that we be still, and recognize that God is our Heavenly Father. The other is more pertinent to personal revelation. It becomes a promise. When we are still, we will be blessed with the knowledge that God is our Father and loves us as his children. Because of His love for us, Heavenly Father has given us a prophet and church leaders to help guide us in our lives, but he has also given us a personal line, as Elder Oaks stated, and because of that personal line, we are never left alone with our challenges or sorrows. He is there if we prepare ourselves to listen.
• What does “Be still and know that I am God” mean to you?
• How do we reconcile when the personal line and the priesthood line are not in complete harmony?
• How can we more effectively open ourselves up to personal revelation?
Wheat & Tares 
Stillness is part of listening, and knowing, for me, comes of listening.
I have personally felt the most peace in my life when I meditate. Ironically, this isn’t particularly when focusing on an answer to a prayer but more when focusing on emptiness or on my breathing. Working towards the “stillness” gives peace.
Alice, this is a wonderful post. The only flaw is that it causes the reader to sit and think, rather than than speak back to you.
But don’t confuse the silence of your audience for a failure to appreciate you.
The bloggernacle just has not mastered RAEBNC.
Stillness is key, I think, to any kind of communication with God. It is also something that needs to be sought, and actively cultivated. My trouble is that I don’t seek that stillness as often as I could, or should, much to my own disappointment.
The second question of yours is a toughie: Personal line versus priesthood line. It is clear that the priesthood line can be in error (priesthood ban is one example that comes to mind), so I think that there are times when the personal line *is* more correct.
When there is a clear conflict, there is definitely a dilemma. Do we accept that we don’t receive revelation for the church and passively wait for things to change, or do we quietly work behind the scenes, as it were, to change local attitudes? (If no one who thought that the priesthood ban was wrong ever said anything, would it have changed?)
This is really where I wish there were a functional feedback link from the bottom up. That would allow for the expression of concerns and conflicts from within the organization, rather than outside of it.
Mike S- I think meditation is important. Asking for answers in prayer, I often have an idea of what answer I want, and I think that gets in the way of being open to whatever answer Heavenly Father has for me.
Praying for answers is important to me, but sometimes you just have to sit, and clear your mind and be open to whatever comes.
Stephen- Thank you. This was a shortened version of a talk I gave in sacrament meeting recently. (how come it feels weird to get compliments on a church talk, but not on a blog post)
Matt A- My sister recently posted on her blog about sitting Zazen. It’s made me think a lot about how little time and effort I put into just sitting and opening myself to whatever enlightenment might be out there. We make life way too busy.
As for my second question- it seems like people are really quick to assume that if your personal revelation doesn’t match up with the church’s official stance, that you’re revelation is wrong. Even Elder Oaks talk warns of being careful as to the source of your revelation.
I wish more people could be okay with the idea that one person’s truth or right might not be truth or right for everyone. I think the heart of the gospel is so personal. We have the institution to help us along the way, but ultimately, it’s our relationships with HF, Jesus, and our families that are most important, and no one else can really say how we ought to be developing those things.
Alice,
Thank you for the post. I think there is so much “noise” coming at us in today’s society (be it audio, visual, time commitments, etc.) that there is too little time for the peace that allows us to discover more profound things.
Expanding a bit on my answer above:
I focus on the peace and comfort I get from seeking “nothing” because I don’t really trust my answers when I get “something”. There are times I have felt what I absolutely thought were “answers” from God, only to find out later that they were absolutely 100% wrong. My mind is fairly logical, and I don’t know what to do with that. Were they myself “wishing” the answers I wanted? Were they answers from God that were “fulfilled” the opposite from what I expected? Or were they answers from another source, as some leaders teach is possible?
I really don’t have a clue any more – so I instead seek for peace. I try to live my life the best I can and my prayers are that I might muddle through life in a manner pleasing to God. If I’m drifting too far astray, I pray that I might be nudged back on course. It is a somewhat fatalistic/karmalistic course, but it is based upon contradictory “answers” I have received to prayers in the past.
Mike S.- Confession- I rarely pray for answers. I have to be having major conflicting feelings before I pray for specific answers, and based on my experiences, perhaps I’d be better off to like you, pray for peace. It’s funny that what I got the last time I was seriously wanting an answer was peace. It worked out okay.
I generally think that maybe God is a little more subtle, and gently points my in the right direction, letting me work out the details. If God always gave us everything, we’d never learn, right? Also, I think that sometimes we can get an answer that later turns out to be wrong (polygamy, blacks and the priesthood, etc…) but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t from God. (This gets into Jeff’s recent post about why God would do this or that to us.) It just means that there’s something we can learn from it, whether it was an answer from God, or it was our own mind wanting that answer. (I’m a big believer of gut feelings, and I have a hard time imagining getting good vibes if me revelation is coming from satan, although maybe that’s just me being led slowly to my own destruction, who knows…)
Also, as far as your second question:
I think the Church has to speak for the institution. I think each person should ideally adapt to the situation they find themselves in COMMENT HIJACK: How’s that for a grammatical nightmare – using the plural ‘they’ for the singular ‘person’ to avoid the unwieldy ‘he/she’ and ending a sentence with a preposition
This can lead to problems, however. There are times when what is best for a person may not exactly coincide with the institutional teachings. Someone may decide that the person they are supposed to marry is NOT a member of the Church – they have to decide what to do. And so on. There are always oxen in the mire. In the ideal world, personal revelation should trump institutional rules.
I gave a comment earlier today on another post here, but it relates to this as well, so I’ll repeat it. Take the WofW, which was originally given as a principle. It has been reinterpreted over the years to be “not a drop” and something that will keep you out of the temple.
In Buddhism, for example, since I’ve also mentioned meditation, the principle is “Avoid intoxication”. And that’s really it. There are commentaries, but it is ultimately up to each person how they live that. Many Buddhists avoid alcohol all together. Others might have a glass of wine but avoid intoxication. Some extend this and avoid other “intoxicating” things that might lead us from what is important (which as relates to this post might include other distractions from peace). Some turn it into a proactive thing and not only try to avoid intoxication, but active seek out things that will help focus or concentration.
But the principle is beautiful. While some may argue that other faiths are too much “anything goes” or on the side of “personal revelation”, I would argue that our Church falls too far on the side of “institutional” control. It saps a certain vitality. It interferes with true personal revelation. It turns us into a group of list followers.
ADMIN: Time to wake up.
These commenters don’t even know the name of my B&.
Andrew – so what’s up with your comments?
Back to the post, I think at times I’m almost allergic to being still. I often fill up every second with the radio, Internet, iPhone, or even just talking to someone else. I need to make more time to just sit… maybe driving is a good time?
Re: when personal and church revelation are not in harmony – in the very least, I try to sit with the tension and see where it takes me, rather than rushing to any definite judgment.
AdamF – I fill up my moments of potential silence too. But I’ve forced myself not to listen to music when driving now just to get some reflective time in. Exercise is a good opportunity as well.
This post is very timely for me Alice. We’re currently trying figure out what would be best medically for our son and are attempting to open ourselves to inspiration. I think I need to carve out some quiet time for myself this week. Thanks for the thoughts.
I think this post even applies to those without any kind of belief in God, a supreme being, or power, or revelation, etc. Just being still and listening can open you up to your true Self, or your own voice or mind, which is often crowded out by a lot of reactive emotions, vulnerabilities, etc.
re 11:
We have had, in the past day, our first banned commenter. I wanted to announce to GBSmith and the world that the admin team here indeed is awake and can operate the awesome might of a banhammer.
but, to be on topic, I agree with 13…
I appreciate this post Alice. Those words “Be still” have brought me peace, particularly when I’ve been faced with something that I don’t have the power to fix. When something is really troubling me, I often hear those words in my head, or the variation “Be still and know that I am God”. Those words have a way of lifting whatever it is off my shoulders. Sometimes there is great freedom in just “being” without the need for “doing”.
I think the Buddhists get this. I keep the book Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor, on my nightstand. If you are looking to find stillness, I’d highly recommend it. The book didn’t make me want to become a Buddhist, but it did enrich my own religious practice as a Mormon looking to find peace, discernment, relief from anguish and compassion.
#15 In that last sentence, I meant compassion and relief from anguish. I’m not looking to find relief from my compassion.:)
Nice post and good advice. Being still is a commodity that is hard to come by these days.
Being still is indeed sometimes the only way I have been able to maintain some source of comfort when personal revelation and priesthood revelation are at odds.