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In a Silent Heart God Whispers...
"We live in an age that is activist, filled with endless noise. I wouldn't call this age so much "the nuclear age" or "the computer age" as I would call it "the age of noise". We live under a constant bombardment of the mind, and of the very cells of our flesh, by all the sources of noise in our world... There is simply too much stimuli and information pouring in all the time... There is not enough silence in our own hearts. We are busy about many urgently needed tasks: heroic tasks, holy tasks, often prophetic tasks... And so the temptation or the tendency grows, to become busier and busier, to do more, and more, and more..."
Michael O'Brien, at http://studiobrien.com, Talk Transcript from National Pro-Life Convention, Toronto, 25-27 Nov 1999: "Saving Lives-Saving Souls: A Spiritual Strategy for the Third Millenium"
posted by Holly at 10:49 AM
1 Comments:
The radio going, the TV blasting, the kids hollering, Mummy hollering! The noise in our family life drowns out even the traffic outside our home when the windows are open!
But more than even physical noise, there is spiritual noise - too many things to do; too many things I want; too many things to clean up; too many interests; too many volunteer commitments - all of these things keep us in a state of perma-distraction.
Elijah, when he went to the mountain to hear God, didn't hear Him in the earthquake, or the thunderstorm, or the raging fire - he instead, only heard the voice of God in stillness and silence.
Such stillness is not necessarily impossible for a family, for a mother. It is very possible if one chooses a life of simplicity. If we cut out too many possessions so we don't spend our time moving stuff around with cleaning - for the 'rich man' spends much time worrying about his 'stuff'. If we cut out too many activities, in and out of the house, and focus on the essentials in our rule; if we turn off the TV more, reduce the radio and CDs, lessen our computer time, and slow down - there will more time for interior silence, for stillness, and hence our prayer will become fruitful - a real encounter with God - not a distracted 'saying-the-words' only...
Only in an interior quiet will we be in touch with God the way we desire to be, and the way He calls us to be. Let's take a little time this week and see where all the 'noise' is in our family life - and see if we can't find a way to reduce it, exteriorly and interiorly, so we can be more attentive to the very 'real' presence of God in our hearts...
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