I want to go back to my post on “Breathing” for a moment. Countless times over these past two weeks I have realized how much goes on in my life. Even when I take a day off or set a day apart, my mind is racing faster than a greyhound, trying to compensate for all the “emptiness” and use every moment to a productive advantage. Even my prayers have slowly suffered. When I began the year I tried to set aside distinct and separate times to pray for others, to pray for myself, and to listen to what God had to say in response. But as the year and my life and my work and activities have accelerated out of the holiday pace, my ability to sit in silence and allow God to speak has diminished.
I believe that we all need silence. A few friends would claim otherwise, and I would agree that the amount of silence each of us requires can vary drastically, but to argue that our ears and souls can withstand a constant bombardment of noise and stimulation sounds to me like claiming that our minds and bodies are up to the challenge of perpetual sleep or interminable wakefulness. There is a balance and it changes with each person – but there is a balance.
Since my teens a constant lesson has been that one cannot hear God until one quietens one’s mind and spirit. He speaks in a still small voice, and we have to be willing and able to hear it in order to listen properly. There are still days when I find it near impossible to calm my thoughts to the point where I can listen to the Holy Spirit, but I’m learning how to counteract those days. The struggle remains for how to calm my surroundings, how to find a silence that sometimes speaks louder than words.
Recently, I returned to the small college town of Northfield, Minnesota – and I was startled and overjoyed one snowy night to walk outside into vibrant . . . silence.
It wrapped me in a blanket, inviting and soothing, reminding me of God’s presence, letting me feel and sense with every fiber of my being that He is near and He is in my world. Being a part of the quiet helped calm my mind, my heart, and my soul and reminded me of the importance of letting God speak. It gave me rest and allowed Him an opportunity to enter fully into my life. So often I want to have some music playing the background or gentle ambient noise, just like I always want to be doing two things at once, to never lose one second staring into space or the inner recesses of my soul. But God has reminded me that He calls us to rest, He leads us beside the quiet waters, He commands us to be still and know that He is God.
If even Jesus had to distance Himself from the crowds and His disciples, who am I to think that my spirit can overcome the noise of the world enough to hear the Father’s gentle whisper? I challenge myself – and I challenge you – to make some time. Time for God to speak to your heart through the stillness and the silence.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPfJgDBeQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9RO_v52e4&feature=related
