I have a general idea of how much time it takes me to get ready to face the world in the morning, from the time I climb out of bed to the time I leave my bedroom. A clock radio wakes me in the morning and it's set to a talk-radio program. I know from experience that if I shut the radio off once I'm out of bed, I can shave as much as ten minutes off the time it takes me to get ready. Now, in the process of making my bed, brushing my teeth, shaving, showering, dressing, etc. I never once actually stop what I'm doing to listen to the radio, but just having it on in the background distracts me from and slows down my patterned, morning routine - significantly.What are the sounds, the noise, the voices that distract us from prayer, from making time for prayer, from actually praying once we make the time to pray? In this season of Lent, what do we need to "shut off" so that we can find a quiet place, a quiet time: to be with the Lord, to speak with him, to listen for his voice?
I'm fortunate enough to have in my office the plaque on the left here. It's contains the very name of God which the LORD revealed to Moses in the fist reading from this Sunday's liturgy: I AM.
May each of us find this Lent, the silence, the stillness in which we come to know who God is in our lives...
Image: Wild Goose Studio
Lent2010
I so can relate to this post Father, but I am making time for my Rosary each night during Lent. I have to say filling my bedroom with prayer before I fall to sleep does makes for a great sleep....:-) Hugs
ReplyDeleteOur pastor recently gave us a wonderful homily centered on....Be Still and Know that I Am God. He took it apart, phrase by phrase and we all repeated it after him, ending with - I AM. The church was silent in between phrases .....very silent.
ReplyDeleteIt has stuck with me and I try to do just that.....be silent, listen to the words. Makes for great prayer time.