Quiet
It can be so very difficult to just be alone and quiet. It is especially true, I think, for extroverts like me. Sometimes I believe that thinking leads directly to speaking. Secondarily, writing like this is quietly extroverting. Perhaps using a meditative word or phrase is about as close as I can get.
I have a few that I find useful.
Send out your light and you truth that they may lead me and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Psalm 43:3
Jesus Christ, God’s son savior, have mercy on me a sinner. The Jesus Prayer
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
It is important to find a way to approach stillness to be able to listen to the still small voice of God within. He will give us peace, love, and guidance, enough for each day and guidance for the future.
As I sit on the porch in our place in rural Arkansas I hear birds calling to one another. From far away they connect. Like the song of the Lord that can still my soul. “Peace be with you.” He says and I am at peace.
Sometime I can find that peace, or better still let it find me, while on a walk. In a while I will take a walk with our German Shepherd. The rhythm of my steps will blend with the rhythm of God’s creation in the surrounding woods. The worries of the world will for the moment fade.
It occurs to me that another motion is helpful. As I write I am sitting in a rocking chair. There is a quieting that comes with gently rocking. Another similar possibility comes to mind. If available a swing can serve the same purpose.
Paying attention to our breathing is also meditative. Not that I recommend it, but smoking my pipe helps. Better would be to use a mantra like “Breath in Jesus, breathe out stress.
Another window to quiet peace can be music. True it is not quite quiet but a gateway to contemplation none the less. Instrumental might be best. However, it might be something with a good refrain. I’m thinking of a song my wife likes. The refrain is “It don’t matter where you burry me. I’ll be home and I’ll be free. It don’t matter where I lay all my sins be washed away.”
Also I find playing music myself can be meditative. My mountain dulcimer has a particularly meditative sound. It is great for old hymns like Amazing Grace and Abide with me. It. Can be helpful for others. When a hospice chaplain Inwojod play it for my patients.
I hope some of my morning musing may give you some ideas for being quiet and still. May the Lord nurture you soul.
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