Statio

There is a spiritual discipline practiced in monastic communities called "statio."  It is a word which speaks of pausing between events.  It is an invitation to slow down and wait before jumping into the thing which is awaiting us.  For the hurried control freaks who are intent on rushing through life it looks like wasting time, but to the one who waits, it provides an opportunity to experience fully the in between moments of life.  The practice of "statio" reminds us that all moments of life are of value, not just the ones which seemed filled with overt sign of productivity.

 

Embracing such a way would be a radical change for most of us.  When we arrive wherever it is we are going, imagine what it might be like to simply sit for a moment before launching ourselves out of the car on our way to the important thing which is ahead.  Or, imagine how our quiet time with the Father in heaven might be different if those moments were sandwiched between moments of intentional pausing.  What we miss with our hurried approach to living cannot be grasped because we never slow down enough to see what it is that is unfolding in the circumstances of our present moment.

 

As we let our minds take us into the things of our day, we can quickly see how the practice of "statio"  could slow us down and give us time to appreciate the moment God is giving us, the people with whom we are blessed to share those moments, and, perhaps, even an unexpected and surprising experience of knowing that an ordinary moment has suddenly been filled with holy presence.  Never think that God does not travel with us on the journey of our life.  Always He is present in the present moment; we are the ones who make ourselves absent in the present by our obsession with what has not yet come.