Spiritual Boot Camp
July 12, 2005 by Melody Laila
Filed under Columnists, Melody Laila
Psalms 46:10 says “Be Still and Know that I am God”. Until recently I thought stilling oneself was all about stilling one’s mind in the presence of the Lord.
I recently had the blessing of participating in a silent retreat (conducted by Rev. Fr. Conrad Saldanha). Besides the complete silence, we were taught to remain completely still - physically - and focus our energy and minds onto Jesus, usually through meditating on God’s Holy Word.
When I usually sit before the Lord, I sit in a comfortable posture, the longer I sit, the more I move. Here we were consciously told not to budge, not even a muscle. Try kneeling, standing or even sitting in one posture for an hour. It’ll hurt.
You may ask why one should strain one’s body so much? Is God a sadist? Surely not! He’s happy just with the fact we’ve come before Him. Then what with all the forced endurance of pain?
