Discussion guide for still God

For book clubs, small groups, and spiritual formation circles

Introduction

Still God is designed for reflection and conversation. The questions below are not a test of understanding — they are invitations to go deeper. Sit with what the book stirs in you. Share it with others. Let the silence work.

There are no wrong answers here.

Theme 1: The God Who Rests — Chapters 1–2

  1. The traveler notices, for the first time, that God creates — and then rests. Has a familiar text, belief, or tradition ever looked different to you on a second reading? What shifted?

  2. The pond becomes a recurring image: creation as a stone thrown into water, ripples expanding and fading. What does this image stir in you? Beauty, loss, or both?

  3. The ranger says, "Maybe that's exactly how It does." What do you think he meant? Have you ever heard God's presence described this way?

Theme 2: Silence and Presence — Chapters 3–4

  1. The librarian says that silence is where the soul becomes attentive. Does silence feel like a presence to you, or more like an absence? Has that changed at different points in your life?

  2. The pastor recalls Elijah hearing God not in wind or fire, but in "a sound of sheer silence." What does that phrase mean to you? Have you ever experienced God — or something — in the quiet?

  3. The phrase "Be still, and know that I am God" is explored as possibly a description rather than a command. How does that shift change the way you hear it?

Theme 3: Freedom and Responsibility — Chapters 5–6

  1. The stranger on the bench says that freedom and responsibility walk together. If God is not pulling all the strings, what does that mean for how you live? Does that feel like liberation, burden, or both?

  2. The woman in the café says prayer isn't about begging the water to flow a certain way — it's about resting in the fact that it carries us. How does this compare to the way you've understood prayer?

  3. She also says the difference between stillness and avoidance is that avoidance shrinks the world while stillness enlarges it. Have you experienced that difference? How do you tell them apart?

Theme 4: Healing, Clarity, and Harmony — Chapter 7

  1. The gardener says clarity is not the absence of struggle — it's the presence of peace in the midst of it. When, if ever, have you felt that kind of peace? What made it possible?

  2. She links clarity with health, prosperity, and forgiveness. Do those connections make sense to you? Is there one that resonates more than the others?

Theme 5: Death and Return — Chapters 8, 12–13

  1. Mrs. Ellery speaks of life as tea poured from a pot into a cup — given, carried, and eventually poured back. How does this image sit with you?

  2. The traveler says they feared not pain, but nothingness. Is that a fear you share? How has your understanding of death changed (or not) over time?

  3. When Mrs. Ellery dies, the traveler whispers: "I don't know what's best here. I know what I want, but I don't know what is needed." Have you ever prayed that way? What did it feel like?

Theme 6: Divine Consciousness — Chapters 9–11

  1. The book names what the traveler has been discovering: Divine Consciousness — the living Presence in which all things exist. Does that name feel helpful, limiting, or something else? What name, if any, do you use for it?

  2. The idea of Christ Consciousness appears in Chapter 10 — the awareness of oneness with God that Jesus seemed to live from. Does that feel familiar, strange, or liberating?

  3. The traveler writes: "Our power comes from being aware of the Divine. Our weakness from forgetting." What does that look like in a specific, ordinary situation in your life?

Closing Reflection — For the Group

  1. If you could carry one image, one phrase, or one idea from Still God into your daily life, what would it be?

  2. What question did the book leave you with that you want to keep sitting with?