Sessie 1 van Heilige Gees seminaar: Stilwees en luister is voedsel vir jou Gees.

“Kom buitekant toe en gaan staan voor My op die berg,” sê die HERE vir hom. Terwyl Elia daar staan, het die HERE by hom verbygegaan en ’n geweldige rukwind het die berg uitmekaargeruk en die rotse gebreek voor die HERE. Tog was die HERE nie in die wind nie. Na die wind was daar ’n aardbewing, maar die HERE was nie in die aardbewing nie. Na die aardbewing was daar ’n vuur, maar die HERE was nie in die vuur nie. Na die vuur was daar die geluid van ’n sagte fluistering. (1 Ki 19:11–12). NLV

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Ki 19:11–12) AMPL

“a delicate whispering voice”

0db is called the zero crossing, or average pressure, equilibrium, or resting position, and all sound vibrates in amplitude above or rarefaction below.

I believe this position is critical to achieving perfect pitch, Christ pitch, resonating heaven. Silence and stillness should be our constant starting-point before we say something, act or do something. Stillness is the default position for someone living in the Spirit.

Think about music for a moment. If every note or chord were played at the same time, you wouldn’t have music. You’d have noise. Music occurs when sounds are contrasted against silence. Varying the pattern of sound and silence creates rhythm and melody. Without silence, there is no music.

The negative space of the canvas is just as important as the positive elements that we place on the canvas. The clean empty space greats emphasis for the object of the painting.

It is the stillness of water mass like lakes, that mirror the heavens best. Creating seamless photographs of heaven touching earth.

“Not all men are called to be hermits, but all men need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally. When that inner voice is not heard, when man cannot attain to the spiritual peace that comes from being perfectly at one with his true self, his life is always miserable and exhausting. For he cannot go on happily for long unless he is in contact with the springs of spiritual life which are hidden in the depths of his own soul. If a man is constantly exiled from his own home, locked out of his own spiritual solitude, he ceases to be a true person. He no longer lives as a man.” —Thomas Merton

“Solitude is more a state of mind and heart than it is a place. There is a solitude of the heart that can be maintained at all times. Crowds, or the lack of them, have little to do with this inward attentiveness.” Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline)

A time for silence and a time to speak Eccl 3:7

“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.” —Mark 6:31

Be still and know that I am God Ps 46:10

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Psalm 4:4

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:37

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

In silence and solitude, you “sharpen the saw,” restoring the edge you need to continue cutting through life’s problems.

“Do not flee to solitude from the community. Find God first in the community, then He will lead you to solitude.” —Thomas Merton
“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. . . . Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. . . . Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” Thomas Emmerson

Learn these following skills and master them.

1) Google your spirit, learn to listen
2) Hold a technology sabbath regularly
3) Be at peace with God, self and others
4) Contemplate, meditate, focus and concentrate your attention on one thing.
5) Create space, silence.

We are primary spiritual beings. Our spirit is eternal. By becoming silent and still, turning off the voices of the temporary, we discover our core, our centre, heaven inside and God’s throne the holiest place. The OT temple holy place was pitch black dark. There was nothing but the ark of the covenant. I’m sure it was almost a soundproof, room, of silence. Here the high priest had to wait to hear the delicate whispering voice of God. The centre of our universe.

The Sacred Veil that was made for the Temple of Solomon, according to rabbinic sources was actually made by using layering many sheets of linen until there was a curtain thickness of over three feet. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest, when he entered the Most Holy Place, he had to blindly navigate through this maze with the censor with smoking incense in one hand and the blood in the bowl in the other hand. As his world became darker and darker, he soon found himself standing in the presence of the Lord in complete darkness. Without any sensory sight to help him, standing in the presence of the Lord would have been very disorientating. He had to lean on faith and trust explicitly on the Lord to shield and protect him, for to touch the ark of the Lord would mean instant death. This was very much like the spiritual maze of the mystic whose mind ascends mentally to the throne of the Lord.