Drop thy still dews of quietness … but how?!

Flustered, frazzled and unfocused … that was how I entered today’s mini-retreat.

Despite feeling frustrated by my messy mind, I dug deep, breathed from the diaphragm, and resolutely wrote in my journal, as a prayer, “Drop thy still dews of quietness……”

Of course, I can’t claim credit for the poetic image. It comes from a hymn written in 1872 by an American Quaker. The background to this hymn is quite interesting but beyond the scope of what I intend to be a brief blog post to share a short testimony about God’s gentle handling of this scatterbrained Australian.

‘Still dews of quietness’? I wrote those words in my journal in sight of a tacky manmade waterfall, drops of water flying everywhere until they hit the concrete and ran into a drain. There was not a drop of ‘still dew’ in sight.

The rest of the setting in which I wrote also echoed my attempt to wrestle calm within. I sat on the porch of the ‘Amazon Cafe’. In front of me was a carpark, at the edge of which was the waterfall. Behind me was a small but busy road. Motorbikes, cars and delivery trucks rumbled past. On the table next to me, a woman peered intensely at her laptop while on a video call, her Thai interspersed with English phrases such as ‘team leader’, ‘finance’ and ‘Asia’. Within me, my gut gurgled, demanding my full attention and a quick trip to the bathroom.

Still dews of quietness?

Trying, trying, trying … stop!

I came to this city for a conference last week. I learnt lots, had my thoughts stimulated and made some good connections. And now it is time to knuckle down and formulate some action plans. What will I do? How will I do it? What resources do I have? What do I need? How can I best steward the privileged position I have been given in terms of access to education and time in which to read, write and train?

This half day retreat is intended to help me address some of these questions.

A comment by someone I know caused me to turn to Isaiah 30 today. A full exposition of this, too, is beyond the scope of this brief blog post. Suffice to say, the original recipients of the of prophecies of Isaiah had tried so very hard to strategise well, use the resources and connections available to them, and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps … something which is, of course, quite impossible.

“This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength……” (Isaiah 30:15a NIV)

(I’m deliberately omitting the last phrase of Isaiah 30:15 which is, sadly, “… but you would have none of it.” Isn’t that tragic?)

Of what do I need to repent, I wondered.

The very existence of this blog post … as much as anything can ‘exist’ on the internet rather than ‘be’ something physical … is part of the response to that question. I have said before and I will say again … I have long sensed a call from God to write. Not to write big, important things … just to write. But I keep doing anything but writing because I’m afraid I can’t do it perfectly.

Repent.

Blog.

Stop trying to be perfect and just be who our Lord knows I am.

Ask for help

I continue reading Isaiah 30. The sophisticated political alliances of those foolish Israelites of the seventh or eighth century BCE crashed and so did they. The Bible puts it like this: “A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away….” (Isaiah 30:17 NIV)

But that’s not the end of the story.

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion….” (Isaiah 30:18a NIV)

“How gracious he will be when you cry for help!” (Isaiah 30:19b NIV)

Once the people had turned back to their God in this chapter, Isaiah prophesied a precious promise that is often quoted out of context. Isaiah gave a dramatic description of what repentance from idolatry and dependence upon God looks like. They defiled their idols overlaid with silver and gold (I wonder how they defiled them?!) and threw them away like menstrual cloths. Now that is an earthy image!

In that context – a context of repentance and trust – God promised, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Although I am just one little individual – part of the community of God’s people, but just a small part – I think it is fair to take this promise and apply it to myself too. When I stop trying so hard to be clever, when I repent of trying to figure things out in my own strength, and when I cry out to God for help, he will answer.

Of course, my situation is nothing like that of the poor afflicted Israelites to whom these precious promises were given. I’m well provided for and even have the luxury today of sitting in a coffee shop journalling. But it is a good reminder, nonetheless – Repent and rest; be quiet and trust. Wait and see what God will do.

Still dews of quietness

Isaiah 30 finishes strong. After the Israelites turned back to their God, things look up. That’s not to say that bad things don’t happen to God’s people if we walk with God in repentance and rest, quietness and trust … just look at Jesus’ life! … but the principle remains: God’s people are to look to the LORD and let him direct us.

I left the cafe and walked over to the man-made waterfall to take some photographs, partly for this blog post and partly just as a means of enjoying the atmosphere. I looked in vain for ‘still dews of quietness’ … but just look what landed right in front of me as I sat there quietly?!

A magnificent dragonfly.

Right there, in the middle of the water spray, by the wet concrete structure, and with the background traffic noise.

We sat there for several minutes, the dragonfly and me.

I think back to the way I started this mini-retreat, with a prayer that God would ‘Drop still dews of quietness’. In fact, let me share the whole verse from the hymn in which that phrase appears:

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.

‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’, by John Greenleaf Whittier (1872)

The hymn-writer suggested that it is our ‘ordered lives’ which should ‘confess the beauty of God’s peace’ but that’s going to take some time, especially for someone who isn’t very organised. (Again, the background to the hymn on this point is fascinating – follow the trail from footnote 1 below if you’re interested.)

But this dragonfly will do me beautifully as a reminder of the beauty of God’s peace – of being still, not striving but just ‘being’, amidst the chaos.

Like those repentant Israelites of old, may we look to God for direction rather than to our own cleverness or strategies. May we find our strength in ‘repentance and rest’, ‘quietness and trust’.

And as we do so, may we hear God’s voice say, “This is the way; walk in it.”

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Footnote 1: The hymn, ‘Dear Lord and father of mankind,’ is actually part of a longer poem written by Whittier in which he contrasted the devout Quaker way of connecting with the divine with that of using intoxicating substances or other methods of whipping people into frenzies! Fascinating, don’t you think?
See https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Brewing_of_Soma