The Value of Sitting Still
I enjoy family history. With that in mind, I've come to seek out where my family really came from, and have learned a lot about where the Russells came from. I also learned that they didn't come to the United States completely of their own volition. The Russells were Norman conquerors who, after landing in Scotland shortly after 1066, decided to start wearing kilts. So, they were Scottish for all points and purposes. They left Scotland post-Culloden-Jacobite-Rising and all that. Not of their own choice.
So, every culture has a stereotype, right? The Irish are fiery. The Germans are strict, etc. The Scottish stereotype is that they're hard-working and thrifty. It's true. That's why it's called Scotch tape. I once heard that the Irish have collective PTSD (a concept that I love). I guess you could say that the Scottish have a collective, extremely productive form of ADHD. And I can see this impulse in the Russells--if you're not being productive, you're failing at life.
In proper Scottish-descent fashion, I have a more-than-slight obsession with daily schedules, to-do-lists, and feel slightly guilty when I put the phrase "Hannah Time" on those schedules. In fact, today's to-do-list/schedule is directly to my left as I write this blog post. With all this in mind, I struggle with sitting still.
With today's world being so busy, I think we all struggle with it a little bit. I always marvel in books set in the past (or written in the past) how a character will say, "Care to join us for dinner?" and the other character will say, "Thank you, I think I will," and then sitting down with them. In today's world, that would result in pulling out our schedules and saying, "Sure. How's next Thursday?" We don't wander anymore. We don't just do nothing anymore.
Last sharing time I taught, I pulled out a scripture for the kids (while talking about prayer), 1 Samuel 9:27. In this scripture, Samuel is training Saul for his purpose as the king. In his training, at one point, they are traveling and Samuel sends the servants up ahead and says to Saul, "stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God." And that's the end of the chapter. In the next chapter, Samuel anoints Saul and all that. But for this scripture, he just has him stand still. I struggle with standing still.
I was reading about a lot of scientists of the past and was surprised with the number who received their epiphanies when they were day-dreaming. Galileo had a serious breakthrough while phasing out in church when he noticed the ways the lamps swing. Kary Mullis got the idea for PCR thermocycling while laying in the sand after surfing (some people claim he was also high at the time, but...the guy also believes in astrology, says that an extraterrestrial, glowing, green raccoon visited him, and believes that AIDS doesn't exist). Famously, Archimedes discovered density in the bathtub.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes we just have to sit still, and then that's when the answers come. Just step back, and you may be surprised what happens. You may discover density.
So, every culture has a stereotype, right? The Irish are fiery. The Germans are strict, etc. The Scottish stereotype is that they're hard-working and thrifty. It's true. That's why it's called Scotch tape. I once heard that the Irish have collective PTSD (a concept that I love). I guess you could say that the Scottish have a collective, extremely productive form of ADHD. And I can see this impulse in the Russells--if you're not being productive, you're failing at life.
In proper Scottish-descent fashion, I have a more-than-slight obsession with daily schedules, to-do-lists, and feel slightly guilty when I put the phrase "Hannah Time" on those schedules. In fact, today's to-do-list/schedule is directly to my left as I write this blog post. With all this in mind, I struggle with sitting still.
With today's world being so busy, I think we all struggle with it a little bit. I always marvel in books set in the past (or written in the past) how a character will say, "Care to join us for dinner?" and the other character will say, "Thank you, I think I will," and then sitting down with them. In today's world, that would result in pulling out our schedules and saying, "Sure. How's next Thursday?" We don't wander anymore. We don't just do nothing anymore.
Last sharing time I taught, I pulled out a scripture for the kids (while talking about prayer), 1 Samuel 9:27. In this scripture, Samuel is training Saul for his purpose as the king. In his training, at one point, they are traveling and Samuel sends the servants up ahead and says to Saul, "stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God." And that's the end of the chapter. In the next chapter, Samuel anoints Saul and all that. But for this scripture, he just has him stand still. I struggle with standing still.
I was reading about a lot of scientists of the past and was surprised with the number who received their epiphanies when they were day-dreaming. Galileo had a serious breakthrough while phasing out in church when he noticed the ways the lamps swing. Kary Mullis got the idea for PCR thermocycling while laying in the sand after surfing (some people claim he was also high at the time, but...the guy also believes in astrology, says that an extraterrestrial, glowing, green raccoon visited him, and believes that AIDS doesn't exist). Famously, Archimedes discovered density in the bathtub.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes we just have to sit still, and then that's when the answers come. Just step back, and you may be surprised what happens. You may discover density.
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