28 April, Sunday — Quieten Your Mind, God Knows Everything

5^th Sunday of Easter

Acts 9:26-31
1 Jn 3:18-24
Jn 15:1-8

Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.

Have you gone out for a walk in the forest recently? In Singapore, where I am, the tropical heat has been quite brutal. But if one just steps away from the concrete jungle, to stand under the benevolent shade of a banyan tree or rain tree, it immediately feels a few degrees cooler. Then, if you venture further into some nature park or untamed forest, such as at Windsor Park or Clementi Forest, you will certainly marvel at the natural ‘air-conditioning’ imparted by the collective shade of a hundred or more trees and shrubs. With your eyes closed, body still, and ears peeled, you will sense a gentle ‘rahh’ in the breeze of the forest…

Perhaps it’s time to breathe and pause: we are just three weeks away from the Feast of the Pentecost. How did Lent, and then Easter, just fly past like this? It’s so normal to get caught up in the flurry of the everyday. Maybe we ought to take a moment to regroup, you and I.

There is a wise saying, originated from a story about European missionaries serving a century ago in Africa. These missionaries wanted to move at a faster pace than their local porters could. As they persisted in pushing the group’s mileage, they finally reached an impasse on day four. While the missionaries were congratulating themselves on their distance covered, their workers would not budge a step anymore. When asked, these natives insisted, “we must wait here for our souls to catch up with us.”

Speed and efficiency are so much prided in modern socieities, that the greatest malady of city-dwellers is this ironic handicap of not being able to slow down; to pause and reflect; to (re)orient and discern; before deciding and acting. We either fail to do this, or make these steps at such breakneck speed, that we leave no room for the movement of the Holy Spirit to enter and inform us.

We are oft out of step and out of touch with our souls. We are un-quiet in this chaotic existence.

Yet the Apostle John tells us in the Second Reading, that as children of God, we need to “be able to quieten our conscience in his presence… whatever accusations it may raise against us, because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.” (1 John 3:19-20). Indeed our earthly consciences do convict us of many failures. Often, it is our lacking in earthly esteem amongst peers, in careers, or accolades. Are we not being recognised enough for our work, promoted fast enough, scoring better than our peers, making money faster than the rising costs of living? Yes, these can be unsettling for some of us because, life is hard and raising a family can sometimes be a hand-to-mouth affair. But our God knows, he does know our every trial and victory. All he requires of us is that “we keep his commandments and live the kind of life that he wants.” (1 John 3:22)

He asks that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and to love one another as he told us to. From these two essentials, our desires, orientations and discernments would flow. God never rushes us, nor commands us to make haste, without first, finding ourselves rooted in him. In the Gospel reading, Jesus told his disciples that God the Father is the vinedresser, and tells them to cling ever closely to himself who is the True Vine. It is through our faithful devotion to this true vine, that our lives will ultimately draw forth meaning and purpose to be fruitful branches.

The slow and patient work of the vinedresser never rushes the plant to grow faster than it can. God never rushes our souls into loving him or deepening in wisdom, much as he lovingly desires so. He knows everything in our hearts before we even breathe it or think it.

It is us who need to learn to quiet our minds and souls, in order to sense and decant what our true longings are. Do you yearn for Him to feed your soul and prune the coiling tendrils of your unquiet mind? Perhaps you could find time to walk in the forest, or bathe in the leaves of a shady gentle giant, or stop by a landscaped garden in your office complex. Anywhere that you can locate a pause, I pray that every one of us can spare one sacred minute to wait for our souls to catch up with us. Let’s close our eyes and quiet our minds to invite this divine “rahh”, the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us and remain with us.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)

Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, come and be with me. Come Holy Spirit, fill my mind with the higher things of Eternal value. Help and strengthen my soul, for my flesh is weak.

Thanksgiving: We praise you Lord for the gift of nature, to remind us at every turn, of your abundant love and mercy for Creation and us whom you lovingly created.