This week I took an early morning walk around our neighborhood. It was a stunningly beautiful morning. Warm for early October, and a moderate breeze was blowing. Of course the words and thoughts were flowing through my mind as I walked.
But then I had a novel idea. Actually, it was one that I’d heard before but have never been good at. Just shut everything out and listen to the world around me.
Because it was relatively early in the morning there wasn’t a lot of activity on the streets. Still, it took a few minutes to stop the flow of thoughts in my mind and just listen…
It’s amazing the detail of the reality of the world around you that invades your senses when you stop thinking. The clatter of a single dried leaf as the breeze blows it across the pavement. Crickets. A single bird chirp in the distance. The sound of the traffic on I29 just over a mile away. A car door slamming as someone heads off to work. The rush of the breeze through the tops of the trees. The sound of my own shoes on the sidewalk. This paragraph could go on for awhile.
What I learned (again) is that in the war of words for our minds, it is important to be still. We can only command a certain degree of control over our thoughts before the exercise becomes counterproductive – at least from a Christian worldview. At some point we have to stop. “Be still and know that I am God…”
If all we do to try to course correct our thought life is to interrupt it with other thoughts coming from our mind, we lose the spiritual connection with the soul. And it is within that silence where our best counsel will come from. It is in that silence where the Holy Spirit speaks as we listen.
So, this weekend, try to find a place where you can be still. Shut out all thoughts, but not all noise. Listen to the world around you in intimate detail. It is the Creator of all of those sounds who wants to speak to you through them, rather than compete with the manufactured thoughts of your mind.
In the process, a relevant Scripture may come to mind. Maybe past wise counsel from a friend. Maybe nothing. But that’s OK too. You will be learning a valuable skill for the coming years. To shut out a barrage of thoughts and be still. God is God even and especially in the midst of dramatic change.
Have a great weekend!
Doug
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