Yesterday, I came across a quote from Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and theologian of the 17th century. Pascal only lived to be 39 years old, but his influence remains strong three and a half centuries later. If you ever want to sample a nimble and capacious mind, read Pascal's "Pensees." This book consists of Pascal's collected thoughts in preparation for writing his summa theologica. Alas, because of his untimely death, the notes are all that remain. They are fascinating reading.
The quote is this, "All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room." At first I thought this saying cute and a bit quaint. But it has continued to ricochet around in my brain, and has given me some pensees of my own. First, an admission. I am an adult ADHD, diagnosed when I was in my very late forties. I utilize medication to allow me to function with some modicum of efficiency. The diagnosis, however, does explain a lot of things from my first 45+ years. I am not ashamed of my condition, nor should anyone be who shares it. It is medical in nature, not a character flaw, and so I treat it as I would any other imbalance in my body.
Back to the quote...how very interesting it is, to say the least. I am reminded of numerous Biblical cases in which this capacity to remain "still" is extolled. Being "still" is recommended in the Psalms several times, with Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God,..." being the most widely known. When the children of Israel had suddenly been given their freedom from Pharaoh in Egypt and fled, they found themselves, at one point, with their backs ot the Red Sea and Pharaoh and his army, having had a change of heart, approaching swiftly from the other direction. As the people began to whine to Moses for having gotten them in this situation, Moses turns and speaks to the people in Exodus 14:13-14. In a rough translation of Hebrew, Moses says to the people, "Don't DO something, just STAND THERE." In other words, "God's got this one, just watch Him work and receive the blessed outcome." What a concept!
Does this resonate with you like it does with me? Does it say somewhat the same thing as the Pascal quote? I think it does, and in that lies much of the problem we bring upon ourselves today. How often are we content to do NOTHING and trust God to do EVERYTHING? I know, I know, we have all sorts of sayings to excuse our penchant for action, any action. "God cannot steer a parked car," or "God helps those who help themselves," and on ad nauseam. None of those statements was true for the children of Israel in their predicament, and they are not true for us.
When we refuse to "sit still in a room" are we not, at some level, saying that God cannot handle this one without us? Are we not living out the consequences of Pascal's caution to all of us? As I think back on my life, I see numerous times when I refused to sit still in a room, and I can recite all of the damage and sin that came from those times. I see people all around me that refuse the role of human BEINGS and seek desperately to become human DOINGS. Pascal, weep for us!
As we face very hard times, financially, politically, and in world affairs, including a word-wide war between radical Islam and Western Civilization, rest on Pascal's warning to us. Rest on the exhortations of Scripture to "be still." Rest in Jesus Christ, our Eternal Shalom, and He will give you rest. Don't just do something, stand there!
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