I WAS JUST THINKING…
I was just thinking about nothing at all. For this afternoon, I was in a fog of unknowing that was not producing anything of substance. No idea, no great new thought came to my mind to share with you. Then, I wondered, what if I wrote about nothing at all? What if I took on the subject of nothing at all? When I receive the Inward, Outward daily meditation, it will have as its subject something as esoteric as nothing at all, so why can I not write about nothing at all?
Sometimes, sitting at my desk, I am tempted to take time out and stop all the noise in my head and heart and think of nothing at all. Sometimes, when I am at home and sitting on the couch, I will give in to nothing at all invading my very being. Sometimes, nothing at all is the very best thing I can do for the moments of my life that seem so full and busy. And so, nothing at all is what I shall write about.
Thinking about nothing at all is, perhaps, the most productive activity we can do at times. Nothing at all is the most helpful thing we can do as we seek to serve God and our neighbors. Why so? When we take those moments of nothing at all, those times when we are simply still in the midst of our busy lives and our hectic days and nights, there is, in truth, something going on that is very profound. When we sit with nothing at all to say or to do, a great wonder is going on in our minds. Now, I am not advocating sitting still for the rest of our natural lives. What I am saying, however, it that sitting very still, sitting with nothing going on in our minds and hearts, can be the best thing we can do for ourselves at times in our lives.
What is going on when we are sitting still with nothing on our minds? First, we are giving ourselves a rest in the middle of a day. We are letting ourselves breathe, permitting ourselves to take in the beauty around us without even realizing what we are doing. We are pausing to praise the Lord even when we are not aware. We are making room for God to come by and refresh our souls. And secondly, we are plowing ground for the ideas that can come forth from a time of solitude and nothingness. We are making way for newness and a glory heretofore unknown. Nothingness is not, you see, nothingness that is nothing at all, even if it seems so. Nothing at all is the opening that is needed to do something wonderful and beautiful and great and glorious. Nothing at all—try it! You just might like it! Jesus did!
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed! (Mark 1:35 NRSV)
Sonja Griffith
District Executive Minister