Filmed Reading: Standing in the Place of Stillness

This week we launch our sixth animated reading. The next five weeks of blog posts will draw from themes in this poem.  If you like the video, please share with others.


 


Standing in the Place of Stillness

I have been here before –

I remember the pasture

That beautiful expanse.

˜

I remember the silence and peace.

It covered me

I felt secure.

I was only a child.

˜

Standing in the place of stillness

No other place I loved to be.

˜

With the passing of years

The visits grew less.

Then one day

Life got serious, I got anxious,

I forgot where to go.

The path was hidden

˜

Motion and movement now normal

And reminiscence of the silent expanse

Seemed to haunt more than comfort.

˜

The place of stillness is a mirror,

Reflecting the condition of our souls,

For our busyness has blinded us

To what has grown…

A dark

Vast

 Hole!

˜

Oh, place of stillness,

Rampart of rest,

Stronghold of strength!

Where have you gone?

Were you just a dream?

I long to find you once again.

˜

To children this place of stillness is absolutely free,

To adults it requires quite a fee,

A full letting go of all I call “me” –

Schedule as me

Job as me

Family as me.

There we learn to sit and

Experience the freedom to be.

˜

The place of stillness was never hard to find.

Standing in the place of stillness,

Was it only a figment of my mind?

˜

Then one day

In ceasing to strive I found the meadow

And once again

Stillness has become my friend.

˜

In the place of stillness

I am learning how to live,

For there I find sufficient strength

That He alone can give!

˜

Yes, I am standing in the place of stillness

And there is no other place I’d rather be.

Standing in the place of stillness

Thank God, a stance I never outgrew.


This poem has been adapted from the poem by the same name in, David Trementozzi, Light for the Dark Night: Embracing a Heart of Holy Desperation (Maitland, Fl.: Xulon, 2005).

 

Author: David Trementozzi

David Trementozzi is married to his wife, Emily and they have three children—Judah, Kaleb, and Halle. David likes to write on topics related to Christian faith and their contemporary relevance. He has a B.A. in Psychology (Messiah College), Masters of Divinity, and Ph.D in Theology (Regent University). David is currently a professor of Theology at Continental Theological Seminary in Brussels, Belgium. To learn more about David, go to the About David page above.