Quiet Heart

                                    "Be Still, My Heart."

Even as I type these four words I wonder how very blessed I am to live in a quiet place and to have the opportunity to 'hear' my heart.

There's an expression that says we need to be still to hear what's going on in our heart. I think it's true. The heart is the place where our yearnings and desires live, and where, if we listen, we can discover what will fulfill us and make us feel 'whole.'

So, in the world we live in today I am troubled, concerned especially for children and youth who seem to have little time for reflection, quiet or solitude. Media before their eyes or in their ears, and innumerable activities to experience leave little time just to play. Or for silence. And if there isn't time for silence then how can there be time to listen to the still small voice in their hearts?

I wish everyone could just unplug... from time to time... and that each of us could have time just to 'be', with no schedule or agenda, no distractions. In my ideal world, children will grow into adults who are at peace with themselves and in rhythm with the world around them. Anxiety, stress, impatience are products of too little time to do too much, or of feeling overwhelmed by too much choice.

I aspire to a world where we all have time to be alone. Alone is not a bad place to be. Loneliness can be painful - like a silent scream that no one hears though in a crowded room. But alone is different. Alone is company with oneself - thinking, simply sitting without saying a word, but with our private thoughts flowing in and through us, as we enjoy our own undemanding, peaceful company.

I was bullied as a child. For a few years I had no friends at school. So I learned to play by myself and I grew to quite like it. Funny isn't it, how experiences that seem like curses later turn out to be such blessings. I think life offers a lot of that, if we could only recognize it. When we plan too much we can miss the wonders available - too busy to see, too hurried to enjoy the life made available to us without any effort.

It's quiet here, and I can hear the winter wind through the window.

I am content in the quietness of my own heart, because I haven't something else I'd rather do, or have to do. Instead, I am here in the present, alone with my thoughts.

Whether a cold wind rages outside, or a steamy hearth keeps our bodies warm indoors, stillness is attainable any place, any time.

I so desire this stillness for my child and his generation. I so want this for our youth.
Please God, grant space in time for our children to rest within themselves and hear their heart's desires before expectation and thrill completely and permanently detach them from their souls.