Can You Hear Me Now?

I often walk early in the morning, when the streets are quiet and the world is just waking.

The time and the atmosphere are peaceful.  The sound of birds is audible and a welcome part of the morning walk.  At times I will pass another walker and greet them.  During the day, when life is in full swing, greeting another is not the norm, but in the early morning quiet of the day that we are both sharing, a greeting seems to acknowledge the common activity we share.

 A simple hello gets nowhere though, if the other walker is wearing earphones.  Often an early morning walk is a great time to listen to books, the bible, a lecture or a talk.  But just as earphones put in sounds, they also block out sounds.  What is not being heard?  And that is the question I consider.  What do I miss when I cover my ears? The choice to listen to something is also a choice to not listen to everything else at that time.  How often do I cover my ears when God is speaking?  What do I fill my mind with and so drown out the sound of God?  He does speak, in shouts and whispers, but if my attention and ears are occupied, how will I hear?   

I am reminded of Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God.   The command to be still relates to more than just physical activity.  Be still; nothing moving, not even the ear drum…be still.

 And a correlative verse from Habakkuk 2:20;

But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."

Silence and stillness are also good behaviors.  They help to keep the soul in shape even as movement and sound help the body and mind to maintain health.   Both are good to practice, but I find the first to be harder to do.  Realizing I have the ability to choose is good and helpful, but I must also make that decision, not leaving it to chance.  That will mean intending for times of quiet and stillness, planning them.   It will mean listening when I have asked something of God.  Would I ever ask a question of a friend and then ignore them when they responded?  Why, then, do I treat God that way?

Building in times of silence and stillness is not hard, but it can take getting used to.  Our lives seem to have a soundtrack of noise, lots of noise.  Take time to choose stillness, to choose silence, and hear what God is saying.

Diversions

Diversions

Yesterday, I watched a commercial for a television news program while I was on my phone. A pretty and slender blonde woman, mother of two pretty blonde girls, shown working in a medical clinic, then shepherding the girls to soccer, then preparing supper, all the while smiling was presented with the caption; “You Can Juggle Life.”  And to help your juggling act, watch our news program at 7:00 PM.   
What this ad portrays is an encapsulated version of the lives many of us lead.  Juggling work, children, sports, chores, relaxation and sleep, we are on the go from sunrise to long after the stars come out.

So occupied are we that even to attend to the news requires timing and planning.  No longer is there a stretch of time where we allow ourselves to walk instead of run, to cook instead of order out.  We are busy doing many things.  Good things, important things.

BUT I wonder what I may be missing as I pass by in a rush from one activity to another.  What can I not look at because I am too intent on keeping all the balls I am juggling in the air?

It is true that each choice to do one thing is also a choice to not do everything else.  Choice is a good gift, a way to direct my actions and energy, but when do I have too many options?  And do I ever stop to ask “Why?”  Why do I need to do this?   Why should I do this?     What am I missing?

All those questions take time; time to ask, time to ponder and truthfully, who has that kind of time?

Have you ever noticed that no one walks or jogs anymore unless they have ear buds in and can listen to something?  Have you recently seen people out at an event and not seen smart phones in everyone’s hand?  We seem to crave the diversion of constant input.  Music, news, gossip, tweets, messages, all keep us up to date, and perhaps drowning in diversions. 

I believe it would be a good thing to assess our activity level. It would be a good thing to seek to understand why we feel the need to feed ourselves so much information, activity and stimulation.  But to do that, we will have to stop with the diversions.  Stop the noise, seek a quiet place and let the Creator speak to us, and listen with patience, for His answer.

A steady diet of diversion is not healthy, even as a steady diet of Oreo cookies is not.  We cannot binge on diversions and expect to become lovely and beautiful people.  That diet leads only to a frazzled soul.