Statio

Greetings, Sisters, Brothers, and Friends of the Community!

Multi-tasking: the ability to do more than one thing at a time (at least in theory).

In a world of Blackberries, cell phones, iPods, beepers, Palm Pilots and you-name-it, we can easily lose our sense of connectedness to God. This can be a world where we are continually asked to do more with less, and to do it faster and cheaper. When this happens, the mortar of our lives that once held us together begins to crumble, and can result in stress and despair.

When we get sufficiently tired of this sort of thing, we begin to look for escape or remedy. Here’s one possible answer for you – statio.

Statio: the ability to do nothing at all.

This is an oft-forgotten little tool that recently came to my attention again after being awakened from a period of dormancy in some dusty back corner of my brain.
(Yes, I must have corners in my brain because in my youth I was often referred to as a block-head.)

Joan Chittister calls statio “the practice of stopping one thing before we start another.”
Statio is a time when we stop what we are doing, even if only for a brief moment or two, and reconnect with God. It's like taking a sip of cool water on a hot day – it's refreshing to the soul.

Chittister adds, “The practice of statio is meant to center us and make us conscious of what we’re about to do and make us present to the God who is present to us. Statio is the desire to do consciously what I might otherwise do mechanically. Statio is the virtue of the Presence.” (Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, Harper, 1991)

Statio can come in many forms, but the idea is to just take a moment or two and reconnect with God. Short prayers, quick walks outside, a brief meditation on a picture; anything that might get you back in tune with your creator and what your purpose in life is. Watch for those openings in your hustle-bustle day where you can put the brakes on, pause for a moment, and remember who and what you really are! Do this as many times as you can during the day.

Know that God loves you and blesses you for being you!

Well, time for a little statio…

Br. Daniel-Joseph, CG