"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
Psalm 46:10 (ESV)Thomas Aquinas, *Summa Theologica* (II-II, Q. 180, Art. 1)
"Our mental contemplation is sustained only by grace, which God grants to the humble. For the soul that is still before Him receives the light of wisdom not by its own striving but by the gift of His presence. Thus rest does not mean idleness; it means the soul's reception of what only God can give."
Basil the Great, *Homily on Psalm 46: *
"For God commands that we cease from our labors not that we should do nothing, but that we should direct our minds to higher things. The stillness He prescribes is the liberation of the soul from the distraction of outward affairs, that being no longer dragged down by earthly cares, it may ascend to the contemplation of the God who is above all."
Irenaeus of Lyons, *Against Heresies* (Book IV, Chapter 20)
"For the glory of God is a living man, and the life of man consists in beholding God. For if the revelation of God through creation gives life to all living beings on earth, much more does that revelation of the Father through the Word give life to those who see God. So then, when a man has been made in the image and likeness of God, and he is still and sees Him, he is filled with life."
"Those who come to the desert must be prepared to be alone with God, for in the silence they will face what they have been running from, and in the stillness they will meet what they have been seeking. Silence does not come easily. It must be carved out of a life that prefers noise. But the one who endures the desert learns that God speaks not in the whirlwind but in the quiet--and the quiet is the harder place to stay."
-- *Sayings of the Desert Fathers* (Apophthegmata Patrum)
What am I afraid I might hear if I stayed still long enough for God to actually speak?
Epictetus, *Discourses* (Book II, §1)
"Make it your study then to confront everything that is most formidable in your imagination, and to say to yourself: 'I have the power to keep my mind quiet in this matter. I will not let the impression carry me away. I will judge it for what it is, and act, not from fear or impulse, but from the stillness within.' For it is not the thing itself that disturbs men, but their judgment about the thing. When you are quiet inside, the storm outside has lost its power."
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