"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their way" (Psalm 37.7,  RSV) We sat still eating our lunch. It was a beautiful spot a mile from the busy little village of Herriott TV fame. All around us tiny creatures, from ants to thrushes were going about their business. It was a botanist's paradise with all kinds of plant life from liverworts to oak trees. Apart from the buzz of the insects and the sound of gentle moving water it was quiet - some might say 'boring'. Stillness, but full of life, of peace and harmony. A few hundred yards away there was an old mill with its pond. Once it would have been the scene of much human industry but now it too was still and apparently lifeless except for the algae that covered it - stagnation.

Life's music has its 'rests' and they are important as Ruskin once wrote. Still, yet much is going on silently. God is exercising our patience. If we would know His will we too must wait; rushing the job will spoil it.

"Have you ever prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation? Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way. This would take you out of the right place - the place where He can meet you." - CHP

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives … don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become … of mature character with the right sort of independence."  James 1. 2-4 Phillips