I know it has been a long time since I have written. I have been pondering where I should take this blog . I have not come to a decision yet, so please bare with me.
In the meantime, I thought I would share my thoughts with you today. I have been making it a point to try and give myself some extra quiet and reflective time over the weekend. Quietness feeds the soul and can bring you to a deeper awareness of God in you like nothing else can.
1St Thessalonians 4 9-11a says: Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.
I was telling someone recently that since the lockdown, I have rediscovered the benefits of quietness. Not having to work within the office means not having to waste adrenaline blocking out sound. I read some time ago that we unconsciously cause ourselves stress by trying to block out sound so we can concentrate and work. Having more quiet in my life has made it easier to enter into a quietness of spirit when I choose to do so. To have a quietness of spirit helps attune us to God’s spirit and the full potentiality of God living within us. That connectedness helps us to rise up and to be more loving. It opens the door so that we can grow more fully into the realisation of all God wants us to be.
I understand how difficult it is to find quiet when you have young children and so many people and things which require your attention. I want to encourage you to make it a priority. For each of us, that may require a different way of doing it. When my six children were young, they went to bed at 6:30, I would dim the lights, light some candles and be with God then. I know this may not work for everyone, just find what works for you. You may even want to take 5 minutes during work to close your eyes and listen to the birds and the rustle of the wind through the trees outside. Experiment, try different things until you find something that works best. Incidentally, I am currently working from home and I never let my family know when I am actually done with work for the day. I am behind a close door and they all think that when I emerge, I have only just finished work. Truth be told, it may have actualy been an hour ago!
Author Joan Chittister says, “There is a pathology of noise that drips into the soul in contemporary society until the soul simply disappears under the weight of it. Then there is only the shadow of a person left looking for itself. Sound drowns out thoughts until all we find within ourselves are questions where the cuttings of answers ought to have begun taking root.”
Taking the time to be still and quiet and to just be is so important. Especially because when you take this time to be alone, you find you really aren’t. None of us are truly ever alone but it is in the quietness that we are reminded of this. God is there patiently waiting for us to see and acknowledge Him with fullness of love and His arms open wide saying, ‘Where have you been?’
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Home And Spirit 