Good Sunday morning, friends!
Have you ever just felt like you needed to fade in the background for a bit? Not join in a conversation at a party? Go to bed early just so you could have some peace from those in your household?
To situations such as these, enter this week's word: quiet. I love this definition of quiet - free from noise or uproar.
When is the last time your life felt like that?
I think there's an assumption when a person goes "quiet" that they are checked out. Or they are avoiding something. Or maybe even depressed.
But not always, right?
Quiet can be a natural response to the situations of our world that are full of big emotions that just need time and space to be processed and lived through. Quiet, in fact, can be a spiritual invitation of deeper faith. In so many faith traditions of the world, there are stories after stories of those having experiences with God while quiet.
Often times quiet is a gift life MUST give us so that we can hear.
I love how Author Parker Palmer expands on what quiet means when he writes: “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one’s self. It is not about the absence of other people-it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other.”
Quiet, you see, can help you love more richly, more authentically and be more connected to the person that God made you to be. Quiet-- no matter your personality preferences-- can be one huge tool that can help you love not only yourself but others around you with more clarity.
So, this week, I would love you to try this. Find one hour. Plan nothing. Be quiet (even if you are moving about in the world). And be open to what happens. I bet something will . . .
Know I'm on a quiet journey with you!
XO
Elizabeth
P.S. Several years ago, I found myself in a quiet season when my husband's job took our family to a part of the country where I couldn't work in a traditional way for a couple of years .I wrote this post at that time about what I was learning. Maybe if you are in a quiet season right now, it might resonate with you as well.
