ADVENTURES IN GOING NOWHERE
Psalm 46:1-3,8-11
Luke 17:20-21
"Be still and know that I am God!"
"The kingdom of God is already among you."
When she recently visited
Volmoed, our American friend Sandi Levi gave me a book by a well known travel
writer, Pico Iyer, entitled The Art of
Stillness. I took the slim volume with me on our recent travels to Italy,
intrigued by its sub-title, Adventures in
Going Nowhere. What could that
possibly mean, I thought, as we embarked on the plane with a very long journey
and many adventures ahead of us. We were
not going nowhere; we were definitely going somewhere and, moreover, with the help of Google, we could already visualise
the towns we would visit and the apartments we had booked. But there I was, taking my seat on the
airplane and settling down to read about Adventures
in Going Nowhere.
Within a page or two I had got
the message. "Going nowhere," Pico
Iyer told me, "isn't about turning your back on the world; its about
stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love
it more deeply." It is an
adventurous journey into stillness even in the midst of busyness or a hectic
travel schedule, in order to gain fresh perspective on life and what it means
to love. A journey inward that enables us to perceive reality differently
whether we are on a jet plane to Europe, a ship in the Antarctic, a car ride
into the Karoo, or simply staying at home.
Nowhere is everywhere and anywhere we find ourselves. And "adventuring into nowhere" is
not turning our backs on the world but learning to see the world more clearly and loving it more deeply. As such, it is not an escape from reality but
an adventure in living and loving, an adventure as great if not greater than
setting off for distant lands on a jet aircraft.
Pico Iyer does not write as a
Christian, but his words brought to mind two passages in Scripture. In Psalm 46, written and sung during a time
of turmoil in Israel, the psalmist exhorts his people to "be still"
in order to discern the presence of God n the midst of what was happening all
around them. This was not an invitation
to navel gaze or escape from the world into some pious ghetto, but an
invitation to embark on a journey into the mystery we call God in order to see
the bigger picture and live accordingly. "Be still and know that I am
God." The psalmist's invitation
remains pertinent for us. We desperately
need to be still in order to discern the reality of God's purpose and activity
in a world in crisis, as well as in the many situations that cause us sorrow
and grief, hurt and harm. To be still and know that "God is our refuge and strength...a very
present help in trouble" does not eradicate the threats we experience, but
it provides us with the resources to respond to them with courage and hope. To be still and know God is an adventure in
faith into that dimension within reality we call the kingdom or reign of God.
This brings us to the other
passage of scripture that comes to mind, the story we read from Luke's gospel. Some Pharisees
put Jesus to the test. When would the
kingdom of God come, they demanded. Jesus
replied: "The kingdom of God does not come by counting the days on the
calendar. Nor when someone says 'Look
here!' or "There it is!' Because the kingdom is already among
you." These words of Jesus have
been variously translated. I have used
Eugene Peterson's translation in The
Message. Most people will be more
familiar with the KJV translation "the kingdom of God is within you." But this is misleading for it suggests that
the kingdom of God is confined to personal piety separate from what is going on
around us in the world. Jesus' answer to
the Pharisees' is simple: you do not need to look to the future or seek God's
kingdom somewhere inside you, for God's kingdom is staring us in the face if
only we would open our eyes to see the signs of what God is doing to bring
healing and wholeness to people and the world. But this requires practising the
"art of stillness" whether we are engaged in the struggle for justice
and peace, simply trying to cope with everyday life, or going through the dark
night of grief, sorrow and pain. It is
all about the adventure of faith discovering the treasure of God's grace for
our lives which as Jesus said, is often hidden in our own backyard (Matthew
13:44).
The adventurous "journey going
nowhere" then, is not a journey into empty space or nothingness, but a
journey into the presence of the mystery we call God, the God we have come to
know in Jesus. And as we embark on this
adventure we discover that this mystery is none other than the One "in whom
we live, move and have our being," the mystery that fills all space and
time, the mystery that enfolds us in love.
So let us for a moment journey into stillness with the help of the
Psalmist who discovered that wherever he journeyed God was already there:
Where
can I go from your spirit?
Or
where can I flee from your presence?
If I
ascend to heaven, you are there;
If I
make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I
take the wings of the morning
and
settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even
there your hand shall lead me,
and
your right hand shall hold me fast.
(Psalm 139:7-10)
John de Gruchy
Volmoed 28 April 2016
