Take Time; Be Still

The pace of life, in this, our algorithmic age,
Has exploded upon us, almost exponentially:
Years crowd into months, and weeks into days.
Frenzied restiveness is the tone to which we move;
A dissonant tempo that troubles the body,
And envenoms the soul;
Community fades, as seething bitterness and
Breathless impatience steadily savage and tear down.
Energetic souls,engaged in many good works,
Bustle about at a frantic pace:
Having forsaken reflection for action;
Yet the paths of their way are turned aside;
They go off hurriedly to nothing.

"Let integrity and uprightness preserve me;
For I wait on Thee, oh my God;
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
All ye that hope in the Lord."

Take time; be still before God;
Lose the glare and commotion of the mall,
And reach for regions outside,
Where the breath of human applause
And the frisson of censure cannot follow.
Here, the closet and the shut door are vital;
It is only in such a place, that the Holy One
Will manifest His Glory in the soul's eye;
Bestowing gems, and the grace to receive them.
He will not reveal His unique beauty
To the chance tourist seeking only a cheap thrill.
It is not possible to rush into God's presence,
Catch up whatever we fancy, and make off with it:
His best becomes ours only through patient tending.
The superficial are put off with a fable, a pretty story;
For it is not given to such as these to know
The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.

"And it shall be said on that day,
 Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him,
And He will save us: this is the Lord;
We have waited for Him, we will be glad,
And rejoice in His salvation."