Friday, March 27, 2015

3/27/15 by Nancy Coler

Zephaniah 3:17Common English Bible (CEB)

17 The LORD your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.

        He will create calm with his love;
        he will rejoice over you with singing.

When my husband was alive the television was on most of the time, or we would listen to music. This was fine with me. After he passed away seven years ago I kept the television on just for company, even if I wasn’t watching anything, or I would have music playing. Now something has shifted in me. 


Carving out times for silence in my life has become vital. Odd, seven years ago I would have been climbing the walls in a silent house, and frankly back then I wasn’t ready to feel the comforts of the quiet. Now, a hushed home is a place of peace, sanctuary and reflection. Reading often becomes my companion, the Bible, a book I am studying or reading for pleasure. Sometimes I just sit doing nothing because of the need to stop racing over powers me. I find solace in nature, taking a lone walk in the garden. These moments when I can invite God to come into my mind, when my mind stands still, are precious. This is my focus during Lenten season, to stop, be quiet within myself. My goal is to have my surroundings be still for 20 minutes. Sometimes it can extend to an hour, or hours on end. The Lord does create calm with his love, as the above scripture says.


White Eagle said, “Man has to learn to seek first the kingdom of heaven, the place of stillness and quiet at the highest level of which he is capable, and then the heavenly influences can pour into him, recreate him and use him for the salvation of mankind.”


My days are hectic, scattered, and I am bombarded with the input of media, freeway traffic, and schedules to keep. In this Lenten time of reflection, and beyond, it is important to savor the silence as I know I won’t hear God’s voice while the TV is turned on. To invite the Holy Spirit to pour into me, I must enter a place of stillness and quiet.


Life in the country teaches one that the really stimulating things are the quiet natural things, and the really wearisome things are the noisy, unnatural things--Beverley Nichols


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