Wednesday, September 17, 2009
Drawing Apart
‘And after the fire a sound of sheer silence.’ I Kings 19: 9-18
“This verse is often taken (not inappropriately) to suggest that we draw apart from the noisy bustle of the world to listen for the voice of the Lord…
But drawing apart from the world is not enough if we take the noise of the world with us, ‘that inner dialog with self that is a jumble of frivolous thoughts, worrisome cares, and negative feelings,’ as Thomas Merton put it. You don’t put all that behind merely by going off to a quite place — unless you intentionally let go of it, and that is not easily done. It takes practice.
When you hose a concrete floor pools of water collect in the low places. You sweep the floor, but the water returns to the low places. You sweep again. And Again. Finally, perhaps the fiftieth time you sweep the water away, it has evaporated and does not return. So it is with the cares of the world. Let them go. Let them go again. And again. Eventually, they will not return. Then you can listen for the voice of the Lord.”
~~ Forward Day by Day, August, 2008