Be Still

Esa Riippa

Be Still

Be still until the waters clear.

Do nothing until the darkness ends.

Rest until the storm clouds pass. 

Wait for winter's breath to die.

Nature does not fight against itself

Nor does it dance when the music ends.

from "War Cry On a Prayer Feather: Prose and Poetry of the Ute Indians", Nancy Wood

Sometimes I need a hand on my shoulder, a word in my ear - "Be still." It's something beyond merely waiting or resting. Being attentive, letting things work but not working myself. Allowing things to come and go, observing the changes, but resting in the sense of the whole. Action where none avails is wasted, wrestling the elements will not change them. Be still. Wait until the waters clear.