Be Still, and Know…
“Be Still, and Know”
a poem by Maude Dillard Fryer
Since I have learned the art of being still
Before the Lord, patiently to wait His will,
There have come sweet release
From fevered fret and worry; peace
That I never knew before; calm
That is an anodyne, a healing balm.
The yesterdays are in His hand,
And though I may not fully understand
All that they brought, there is today,
Fresh and good and fair. I pray
I may have grace to keep it free
From anxious thought of what for me
Tomorrow holds. And so I will,
Since He commands, wait and be still.
I discovered the above poem this morning in a book I inherited from my mother-in-law more than two decades ago. The book, published in 1859 and recorded in the Clerk’s office in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, belonged to my husband’s maternal grandfather, Frank Arthur Foote. His own gorgeous calligraphy-type signature is on the inside second page with the date, Nov. 8, 1881 scribed below it. It was a providential nudge (do you ever get those?) that caused me to take it off the shelf and open it this morning. Barely visible on the tattered spine, the book is titled, “Dictionary of the Holy Bible.” I was reading my devotionals and came to a word, anodyne. It was unfamiliar to me. Looking for a Webster’s dictionary, I spied the Bible dictionary and thought I might find the mysterious word in there. As I opened the book, a yellowish, almost crisp piece of an old newspaper clipping tumbled out from the page. It had been in the book so long that page 270 was faded a brownish shade in the spot where the clipping had been. I stared in disbelief at the clipping as I read the poem. Go back and read the 6th line again. There it is… anodyne. Defined.
God works in mysterious ways.
Be still, and know…
Psalm 46:10
Comments on: "Be Still, and K…" (2)
This is a treasure Jan. Thank you so much for sharing it along! Blessings, Gina
Thank you, Gina. Good to see you again! Yes, the book and the poem both are treasures. I will share another poem that was also found inside it… cut from a newspaper in 1926. Such fun to get this insight into what resonated with my husband’s family back in the days before he was even a twinkle in his daddy’s eye! Come on back and see some more! Have a great week, my friend. <3 🙂