Calm

Holy spirit. Peace divine!

Still this restless heart of mine;

Speak to calm this tossing sea,

Stayed in thy tranquility.—S. Longfellow.

We used to own a hyperactive dog named Chewbacca, after the Star Wars character. “Chewey’ was anything but calm. I can still hear Suzy saying in a forceful voice, “Down! Chewey. Down!” Occasionally when the grandkids are climbing walls the words come out as a  matter of habit — “Down, Chewey!” Unfortunately the result of her words of discipline, for the dog or the grandkids, is usually no more than a moment’s calm.

I don’t know too many humans as restless as Chewey, but everyone of us has moments of anxiety in our work life, our personal life, and in our spiritual life. In that regard, T.C. Upham cautions, “He who is in what may be called a spiritual hurry, or rather who runs without having been sent, makes haste to no purpose.”

It is both physically and spiritually unhealthy to fret and worry. Whenever we are outwardly excited about a message from the spirit we should cease to act until we can drop down and execute with calmness. A morning meditation brings calm to your “tossing sea,” and stays you in “tranquility.”

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

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