I've been thinking this week about how easy it is for us to change. We might not like it, but we do it all the time. Most of us are remarkably adaptable when we have to be. So even though we talk about fearing and/or hating change, we somehow manage: we switch from MySpace to Facebook to Twitter. We watch Conan O'Brien instead of Jay Leno, or Desperate Housewives when Friends goes off the air. We sip Cabernet at an art installation while dating Mr. Creative, then toss down a beer and Cracker Jacks watching the Mets with Mr. Athlete. Flexibility allows us to experience life, and keeps us from getting stuck. My ballet teacher used to say that strength protects you when you fall, while flexibility protects you when you move. I think there's something to that.
How can we be flexible in creating more room in our lives for God? I think the silence thing I mentioned earlier this week might be a great place to start. This book I'm reading talks about three types of prayerful silence: waiting, watching, and listening. One of the quotes in the chapter about waiting caught my attention: "The one fact we forget is that the saints of old were capable of spiritual silence simply because they had not contracted our modern habit of ceaseless talk in their ordinary life. Their days were days of silence, relieved by periods of conversation, while ours are a wilderness of talk with a rare oasis of silence." The source of this quote? D.L. Moody...who died in 1899. Imagine what he'd say about our "wilderness of talk" today?
I don't know about you, but I like the occasional oasis. Today, let's create one. Let's read Luke 11, where Jesus teaches his apostles how to pray, with what's come to be known as The Lord's Prayer. Then 5 minutes of silence: focus on Jesus, and just hang out. No need to talk, just be and see how it goes. Afterward, if you need inspiration, revisit this video. It makes me cry, every single time...In a good way!
This is the stuff that helps me dream of a new normal :)
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3 comments:
At first I was like "5 minutes? That's impossible" Imagine my surprise at your mention of the hour prayer earlier. This is something that I will definitely try to work on today.
I did this and realised just how 'Chatty Kathy' my brain can get when I'm trying to sit in silence.
So, then I went for a walk with my yorkies and continued to pray (remind God of my heart's desire), which I seem to be good at, silence not so much...which might be why it's difficult to hear God speak to me. I'll have to work on that.
I finally did it and didn't fall asleep an no one interrupted me:-)
I was actually silent for 7 minutes in the shower I found that to be a very relaxing and easy place to be totally silent.
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