If solitude reveals the compulsions of the false self, stillness exposes the restlessness that Ron Rolheiser claims is especially characteristic of our times (The Shattered Lantern). It is conceivable, if hypothetical, in our therapeutic culture, that if the therapists of the world prescribed to their clients only the practice of sitting alone quietly and perfectly still for twenty to thirty minutes of uninterrupted silence once in the morning and once before going to bed, that the mental and emotional well-being of the human race would markedly improve, to say nothing of its spiritual and social well-being. Prior to modern psychology and psychotherapy, Blaise Pascal made his famous diagnosis that most of the evils of life arise from a person’s inability to sit alone and still in a room. The unique contemporary expression of this is seen in people whose lives are full but who themselves feel unfulfilled. So often, busyness masks the boredom that is the symptom of a sense of meaninglessness. Ultimately, restlessness is about meaning and stillness invites or forces people to look at the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of their lives.

Contemplation is a matter of seeing, of true perception. For people who are literally and figuratively on the move, the world and life are a blur. Intentional stillness brings about a clarity of vision, whether as sight or as insight. Stopping and being still enables persons to see what is all around them or right in front of them waiting not only to be seen but to be beheld. As an aid to sight, stillness helps us to see the familiar as if for the first time, with a new sense of appreciation, whether we are looking at an elderly parent, an almond tree in our backyard, or the same panhandler on the same corner each evening on the same drive home from work. As insight, stillness summons us to look more deeply at what all the movement means, what all the fidgetiness or all the running about is about. The opposite of significant being is meaningless being, and meaning is rarely apprehended apart from the deliberate solitude, stillness, and contemplative silence that gives rise to deep listening and personal reflection (497-498).♦

Source: Daniel J. Miller, Radical Amazement and Deep Sympathy: A Mystical-Prophetic Approach to Pastoral Theology and Care Inspired by the Works of Abraham Joshua Heschel,  © 2007 (Ph.D. Dissertation)
Reflection Q?s

Which line in these two paragraphs speaks to you most?
What might it be inviting you to look at, change, do, or continue to do?