Wisdom from Yogurt

"Nothing in Creation is so like God as stillness."

~Meister Eckhart~

We recently decided to bring back the healthful benefits of live-culture yogurt to our home. Good yogurt helps repair sick tummies and it revives the natural little flora that make digestion so much easier. It is a dietary superstar after a round of antibiotics or the ravages of a virulent stomach bug, both of which we experienced in the past month.

I found this little yogurt maker at a local store and this morning I pressed it into service. First the milk had to be boiled and cooled to room temperature, a mildly fussy process that took about 45 minutes of intermittent attention as I tidied the kitchen from breakfast. Next, I stirred 6 oz. of live-culture yogurt into the milk, blending it well. I poured the mixture into the little glass jars and put the lid over it. The last step was to turn the maker on and set the timer. It takes about 11 hours in a still and warm environment for yogurt to develop. I glanced and the clock and was relieved to see that it will be done before bedtime tonight.

Meister Eckhart, a thirteenth century Christian mystic, furnished the quote I used with the picture above. I keep these words in a small frame in my kitchen to remind me that I need to cultivate stillness in my life so that God may speak to me. Each day, as I plan ahead and allow time for homemaking tasks, I create spaces in my life for encountering God, too. Part of that time is spent in spiritual practices and part of it is spent in letting my spiritual life grow quietly within me. When I am making yogurt, planting petunias, sweeping the floor or folding laundry, there is a kind of stillness I cultivate within that allows me to hear the voice of the Other who is always with me.

This practice of reflection and quietness does not take the place of Bible reading and study; it does not replace times that I set aside for ordered prayer; but these times of stillness are the moments that God uses to develop new life in me. Bible study and prayer are the times of preparation --the flurry of activity that gets the "culture" of spiritual life started in my heart and mind --the stillness is where it grows and becomes life-giving within me.

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Proverbs 20:27

"The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man;

it searches his inmost being."

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