Thursday, March 14, 2019

March 14, 2019

A Quiet Place
In grade school I never got very good marks in citizenship. Looking over old report cards, I find the same comment year-after-year, teacher-after-teacher: "TALKS TOO MUCH!" And unfortunately, that is still a fault of mine. The surprising thing is that another part of me needs - indeed craves - quiet. The best hour of my day is the hour I get up early for when there is no radio or TV, and I can sit with my coffee and write in my journal, read the Bible, or just BE!
One of my favorite Psalms is #46, especially verse 10: "Be still, and know that I am God!" In the ever increasing chaos and noisiness of our world - bombarded with cell phones, I-pads, TV streaming - it seems to me we are all becoming addicted to constant contact and distraction. We are becoming a people who cannot be alone with our selves - our own thoughts, our own feelings. Silence seems to offend us, to scare us.
But it is only in silence that we can hear God, that we can discern HIS plans, HIS desires for us, HIS words. And also find the peace and centering that are available to us as children of God, no matter what is happening in the world around us.
Shirley Irena Murray wrote these words for a hymn in "The Faith We Sing":
"Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be."


Noelle Landin

No comments: