Quiet

There is a shortage of quiet. We live in a world filled with noise and we have grown so accustomed to the sound of it that we cannot quick stomach the absence of it. I include myself in this. I do not know why our every moment needs to be filled with conversations, the TV, the radio, the MP3 player, the computer, etc. But it is.

Restaurants have become noisy places -- so loud that it is hard to carry on a conversation in some of them. When I sit at the symphony I hear people whispering during the music -- adding their noise to concert. We have cell phones going off in church, texting in church, and it seems even there we cannot quiet our desire to whisper or not so quietly converse.

We complain about it but walk into most homes -- in the background is music playing and the TV on -- even though no one is listening or watching. We have come to fill the emptiness of our lives with noise. But it does not work.

Christ is what we need to fill the silence in our hearts. Christ is what makes the quiet of the moment full.

In Church on Sunday morning, try sitting in silence for 30 seconds and see how long it is. For some of us it is unbearably long. Yet we need more silence in worship -- more quiet time without the organ, choir, hymns, voices, etc... just the quiet so that we may empty our hearts and focus on Christ who alone can fill the silence with just what we need.

That is why on most Sundays you find me here in the office at 4:50 am -- yes, I wrote that time correctly. I am here because it is quiet -- and in the silence I am finally able to put together my heart and mind upon the lessons so that I can hear the sound of the Lord speaking. This is not sermon prep time but quiet time. Time to spend in the silence that few will breech. Quiet that is filled with Christ only.

I urge you to find a moment of quiet time... quiet to the ear and quiet for the mind and members of your body so that you can enjoy the silence that only Christ can fill. I am not alone with my thoughts but alone with my Lord as I come to the office early (before the phone, before the revolving door of people...). Try it. Find some time to cultivate silence so that you may hear Jesus Christ.