Casey Ramirez
Field Personnel in Baguio, Philippines
“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.” – Psalm 46:10
As a native Texan, I spent my childhood near the relatively small hills scattered around southwest Dallas County. In college, I would sometimes joke that Waco was so flat that we could see all the way to Oklahoma on a clear day! Mountains were a foreign concept to me. I’ve had the privilege of visiting places near the Rockies, the Appalachians and the Alps, but only for short trips. And I never really paid attention to the mountains. They were just part of the background.
We now live in Baguio, Philippines—a bustling city situated at approximately the same elevation as Denver. Its elevation and mountainous terrain give it the benefit of comfortable temperatures most of the year, which is good because walking anywhere is basically hiking. As you can imagine, the mountains make for beautiful scenery. It is hard to go anywhere in the city without a grand view of at least one of the mountain peaks in the distance. But the mountains aren’t just in the background here. We are surrounded by them. We live on them.
And yet, one of my favorite things is the shift of the weather mid-day, when the clouds climb over the peaks and completely envelop the city and the surrounding mountains in this thick, impenetrable, puffy blanket of damp and silence. The mountains fade away, the city becomes still and for a little while, everything seems to disappear into a sea of gray. A few minutes later, the clouds will drop their rain and move higher into the sky, and everything will go back to how it was before.
I think we all need times like these that cause us to experience life in a different way than we usually do. Amid our hectic schedules and busy lives, we need times that cause us (maybe even force us) to stop and just be. Just for a little while. Perhaps it is in these times that we might also experience God in a different way than we usually do.
A Blessing for Being
Wherever you find yourself right now,
whether at work,
or at home,
or in one of the countless other places,
remember that God calls you to
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Despite the schedules and the busyness of today,
may the peace of God cover you
like clouds blanket a mountain.
God calls you to
“Be still and know that I am.”
Amidst your comings and goings, may you pause
long enough for your lungs to fill with good, deep breath.
Remember to
“Be still and know.”
May you make the time to
find God in the quiet.
“Be still.”
Stop what you are doing and just
“Be.”
Pray...Give...Go.