By Dr. Michael M. Tsuei, August 28, 2019 — Many years ago when I had attended the University Science College, the president of school suggested that students join her in “practice powering down” for a special event. Although the students agreed, it was great reluctance that they laid aside their cell phones for a little while. They all sat quietly in service of the soft music. Afterward, one participant described the experience as “a wonderful opportunity to calm down… a place to just tune out all of the extra noise.” Sometimes it’s difficult to escape “extra noise.”
The clamor of both our external and internal world can be deafening but when we’re willing to “power down” we begin to understand the psalmist’s reminder of the necessity to be kept still so we can hear God as Elijah heard God’s gentle whisper in the stillness. I am not saying you should not try to get control. There are helpful ways to gain control but it’s healthier to shift the focus from forcing control to harmonizing with the way things are. Surrender is the way to alleviate our need to constantly think and analyze and allow us to be fully present in the moment. And if we can accept how things are we might even see new opportunities new benefits hidden from us. With an open mind [we will have] curiosity and a stance of not knowing instead of fixed things. We are not talking about giving up all control, which could lead to financial ruin, loss of relationships, and unemployment.
But before we grasp for total control, we can try surrender as an approach with whatever comes up…For example, I might feel like my health is out of control and be anxious all the time not to do anything. Notice that you are looking to control things and instead pause. Then bad chemistry flows in your body — notice the fear, the uncertainty, [and the] anxiety that is causing you to want to get control.
Sometimes things are simply too fluid to be held back to restrict in a box or controlled by patterns. Let yourself next to openness you don’t need to control things. You don’t need to know exactly what or when will happen but instead you can find ease in the openness of the moment the unknown quality of the beautifully shifting landscape and the nature [that] surround us.
You can fall in love with this openness when the loving intention you to set for yourself … is the way to move into openness.
Calm down and kept still so we may hear God’s gentle whisper.