Whenever I hear the phrase “be still”, it is always finished in my head with “and know God”. I am not often still and while I believe in God, I doubt seriously that I know him. I guess that’s okay as long as He knows me. In a still moment, I wonder about life and my purpose. I wonder if I do anything that makes a difference. I wonder about my place in this world. In a still moment, I question everything. Maybe that’s why I don’t take very many still moments. In honor of the day, however, I am trying to take a moment and be still. What is it to inspire a nation to do better? To be better? How does one inspire pride in the oppressed, faith in the downtrodden, and action in the empowered? How does one find love in the face of hate? In a still moment, I find myself asking what I can do to make anything better. This is especially true in the face of so many examples of tragedy, anger, loss, and hatred over this past year. Whether because of religion, culture, or race, 2014’s news offered a lot of reasons to feel hopeless, useless even. But in a still moment, I see my children and have hope. I hope I can inspire them to do better, be better. It is not a nation and in many more still moments I will wonder if it is enough. But big or small, it is what I can do, should do. And if I am still, I can hear a strong, clear and mighty voice reminding me that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. In this case, I hope I am lighting two.I am sharing my still moments via Axis of Ineptitude.