I dream of a quiet man
who explains nothing and defends
nothing, but only knows
where the rarest wildflowers
are blooming, and who goes,
and finds that he is smiling
not by his own will.
Wendell Berry, Given
“Make time for the quiet moments… for God whispers and the world is loud.”
Unknown
“Stillness discloses the unfolding of the eternal present.”
Bob Holmes
“Where there is rest and meditation, there is neither anxiety or restlessness.”
Saint Francis
“However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
1 Cor 2:9-10
My Prayer today is for stillness. For peace and quiet amidst the pace. For seeking out silences in all our pursuits, our conversations, our hearts and minds. As is often said, we must slow down for the worthwhile things to catch up to us. We know as 1 Kings teaches us, that God isn’t in the clamour, he is in the whisper. I love Wendell Berry’s last lines of his poem, “…who finds that he is smiling, not by his own will”. I pray today, we might be people who others can see by the light in our eyes, or the sense of something otherworldly, that we have spent time in His presence. That we have heard things that no eye can see, nor ear has heard, but for the ears and eyes of our heart that discerns things divine.
Garden of Bright Images, Artwork: Daniel F. Gerhartz
These are drawn from daily prayers and reflections I write for my Chaplaincy colleagues.
Living Tree Poetry 