August 2, 2023

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.

 

Lewis B. Smedes

 

 

SIT STILL AND LISTEN

When I was young my sisters and I spent summers with my grandmother in Virginia. Whenever there was a thunderstorm she would make us sit quietly. It felt like torture to be still, without the sound of television filling the room or running around in the constant motion, which was our norm. I can remember her humming softly while rain pelted the road and lighting lit the sky.

   Lightening

I didn’t know it then, but she was teaching me an important lesson. Not about thunderstorms-though she was probably right about that, too. But she taught me that sometimes you have to sit in silence to hear what’s right for you, to listen to God whispering in your ear.

 

In my adult life I seldom sit still and allow my mind to soar. There is always something to do, something to that can’t wait, something needling me for attention.

 

God-sky

I’d love to have more quiet time like that again. So no matter how loud the outside world becomes I can find my quiet space. If I just wait for those quiet moments to appear, for the pressures of the world fall away and give me what I want, it will never happen. Just like I make time to exercise. Just like I make time to cook. Just like I find time to write. I need to make way for quiet time, to listen, to find my inner peace.

 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Have you sat long enough to hear the whisper to hear your soul?