Stirring: When the Soul Begins to Move

Over the past two weeks, we have done something very simple, yet something very profound. We paused. We listened. And we began to notice. What has become clear to me is this: something is already moving. Not loudly, not forcefully, but quietly, deeply, and intentionally. And this movement has a name. It is called stirring.

Stirring is the first movement of the soul. It is that moment when something within you begins to shift—before you have words, before you have clarity, before you even understand what is happening. It is subtle. A thought that lingers, a memory that returns, a question that won’t leave, a desire to slow down, a nudge you cannot ignore. It does not explain itself. It simply appears and remains.

In the beginning, we are told that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Before there was form, before there was structure, before anything became clear, there was movement. Not chaos, but divine activity hovering, waiting, preparing. In the same way, stirring is often how God begins His work within us—not with answers, but with movement.

Stirring can feel like a quiet discomfort with where you are, or a longing for something more, though you cannot yet define it. It may come as a sense that something is shifting inside, or as a pull toward stillness, reflection, or change. At times it feels unsettling. At other times it feels like awakening. But in either case, it is sacred.

Most people miss this moment because we are trained to move quickly—to solve, to fix, to figure things out. But stirring is not asking you to act. It is asking you to notice. To stay. To listen. To allow. Because what is being formed here cannot be rushed.

Over the years, I have come to understand that many of the most important movements in my life did not begin with clarity. They began with a stirring—something I could not fully explain, yet could not ignore. And when I honored that moment, when I stayed with it, it led me into deeper places of understanding, formation, and faith.

So this week, do not try to move ahead. Do not rush to define what you feel. Simply ask: what is being stirred in me right now? And then stay with it. Sit with it. Walk with it. Carry it quietly. Because this is how the journey begins—not with answers, but with movement. And that movement is already within you.