The busy mind is a troubled mind

The busy mind is a troubled mind,
the quiet mind is a wholesome mind,
but the still mind is a divine mind.

John who was letting things get him down by excessive care and concern for detail heard these words, as he prayed.

“Just now, don't try to reason things out. Don't be concerned by what other people think of you, or what their plans and projects may be. Don't let the future hem you in or let the past invade your present space.

Just take up your beads and let my Annunciation for this day reveal itself sweetly and surely to you. You too, have an angel who waits on you. His dearest wish is to let the light of my love reveal the way to you. Don't concern yourself with complicated detail. Leave to others those things which are their concern and which they will deal with in their own time.

My wish for you, is that you rest in my love and lose yourself in my presence. I wait for you in every situation of your life. Trust me and be still.

Relate to me, as you relate to your beloved, only more so. You know how she truly loves you, and how you long to sit with her in sheer silence. Words are not necessary. All that matters is that you let me direct you in loving and in being loved.”

John was a married man with a lot of business to attend to, yet the Lord made it clear to him that he would accomplish more in stillness and silence than in undue haste and anxiety. Sometime later, he was led into a weekly meditation group and now spends half an hour morning and evening in the practice of wordless and imageless prayer.

The man I write of was the owner of a chain of stores and had his name in bold bright letters over each one of them. John Laskey and Sons Ltd! Night and day, he pondered that sign of his prosperity until he was, as he told me “full of himself.” The day came however, when things started to go sour. A far greater multinational chain-store than his came to town and he was forced out of business. A physical illness and a mental depression brought him into a dark night of loneliness and despair.

This was the time that my friend took to prayer in a serious way. Looking back now, he realises that everything was providentially planned by a God who is not only wise but full of love. His own name once written big and bold on his store sign, has given way to a greater name. His mantra has become: Father, hallowed be thy name! He would recall the words of the poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson:

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.