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

In the cacophony of our current world, waking up every day to newly fomented strife, how can we claim for ourselves moments of silence?

Shall we turn off and tune out the news for one small part of each day, to revel in silence as the the winter days of Advent descend upon us?

Shall we carve from our 24 hours a few moments to remember and recall lessons past from our spiritual teachers, brothers and sisters of many traditions? (Richard Foster, a Quaker, wrote three decades ago Celebration of Discipline, The Path to Spiritual Growth. He is only one such teacher. There is a treasure house of surprises in spiritual traditions waiting for us to claim our quiet spaces.)

Shall we still our own voices to hear the young Benedictines who pray for the world through Gregorian chanting, echoing across the fields of eastern Nebraska, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary?

Might there be time in our travels to tamp down the usual noise and savor the joys of daily vespers at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers?

Can we put down our phones and walk in the woods?

Can you give yourself the gift waiting for you, a small space in each day to delight in stillness?

Jan Lichtenwalter