Do you need a moment?

Why don’t you take one right now?
Seriously.
Stop reading this.
Set a two-minute timer on your phone.

(What? You can’t spare two minutes?)

Then close your eyes.
Breathe slow.
Just…. ‘be’.

How hard was that? If you’re anything like me, then your answer is VERY HARD!
Why is being in the moment so difficult?
Why do our minds jump into a ferocious overdrive of thoughts when we’re trying to embrace the practice of silence?

Many of us are not good with silence.

We are constantly surrounded by noise.
The noise of social media.
The noise of everybody’s opinion.
The noise of our fears, worries, and insecurities.
The noise of [you fill in your blank].

Have we lost the art of being comfortable with silence and stillness?
Is there something about it that makes us feel vulnerable? Naked even?
One of the most beautiful divine invitations is simply eight words.

“Be still and know that I am God”
Psalm 46:10

…or in Matt’s translation “Shut your gob, and let God be God.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reminded of these words in recent months.

Even this morning. I was walking our dog Zade when I stopped for a conversation with a Christian lady from a local church. We reflected on the last year and she commented that she strongly felt God was inviting her to simply “be still and know that He is God”. Then, the same conversation with someone from my church yesterday. And another a few weeks back.

Is God trying to get my attention? I think so.

And yet, dear friend, I’m sure God is ALWAYS trying to get our attention. He’s surprisingly fond of us all and loves simply to ‘be’ with us. If only we could ‘learn’ to pause, trust that the position of God has been taken, relax and let Him love us.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reminded of these words in recent months.

Is God trying to get my attention? I think so.

Mother Teresa was once interviewed about her prayer life by CBS television interviewer, Dan Rather.
“What do you say to God when you pray?” Dan asked.
“I don’t say anything” she replied, “I just listen.”
“Ok, when God speaks, what does He say?” the reporter responded intrigued.
“He doesn’t say anything. He just listens. And if you don’t understand that, then I can’t explain it to you.”

I was thinking about this story. About just sitting in the silence with God.

To a task-driven, goal-oriented, make-it-happen kind of person (I’m not talking about myself of course!), it might feel – dare I say – purposeless.

But then I think about some of the most precious times I’ve spent with close friends and family. Times when life felt unbearably painful. Times when you felt safe, without the need to speak or perform, to simply sit in the silence, and be – be with yourself, with your pain, with them. Knowing that their time, attention, and silent presence was a beautiful gift of love reminding you that you are not alone. That you are seen.

Last week, Amy and I had some time away by the South Coast. During a cliff-top walk, we decided to sit silently on a bench, be still, and simply be captivated by the beauty around us. To do our best to just be in the moment. You can just make out in the photo the bird that soared around us.
And in this moment of just sitting, something wonderful – but all-too-rare – happened in me.

I forgot about everything I was worried about.
Everything that wakes me up at night.
All the noise and clamour in my thoughts.
For just a few moments, nothing mattered. No worries. No concerns. Just peace.

Of course, we had to get up, return home, and continue to face all the things we have to face (we all have stuff, don’t we?) BUT it was truly a beautiful moment.

I want more of those moments.
I need those moments.
Do you?

Moments when you deeply sense that silence is not the absence of God but the breathtaking, loving, attentive presence of God.

This is my prayer for myself, and it’s my prayer for you.

Go on, take a moment.