Sunday, March 15, 2015
Sunday Reflection: The Three-Fold Quiet
Usually I fly out to meet IPLawGuy for our annual ski trip, but this year I drove out to Montana. It took two days each way, but it was worth it.
On the way back, I stopped at Teddy Roosevelt National Park in the far western part of North Dakota. I parked and climbed to the top of the ridge and looked out at the scene above. There was some wind, and the sound of the river below, but other than that it was silent. I stood there for a long time. There was no sign of roads or cars or crowds.
Not so long ago I learned to not fear silence. I did it by going to Quaker meeting, and sitting quietly amid intentional silence in a roomful of people. Once I got used to that, I learned to be comfortable with the silence of nature, in a place like that bluff in North Dakota. Now I am becoming comfortable with the quiet nature of God-- a God who does not answer our questions and pleas with trumpets and bombast and who speaks in a still, small voice (if at all). This, among these silences, is the most challenging of them all.
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Its always nice to hear when someone takes the time to enjoy the quiet solitude of my home state.
I feel very lucky that I grew up in an area that allowed me to develop a love of nature and the outdoors, and to understand the difference between being alone and being lonely.
I have always found that a good test of a person is to see what they do with silence. Silence can be a gift, but it can be too powerful a force for those who cannot be alone with their own thoughts. The world seems designed to distract us from our thoughts and feelings, to draw attention to the trivial and easy, and away from the import and but difficult.
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I feel very lucky that I grew up in an area that allowed me to develop a love of nature and the outdoors, and to understand the difference between being alone and being lonely.
I have always found that a good test of a person is to see what they do with silence. Silence can be a gift, but it can be too powerful a force for those who cannot be alone with their own thoughts. The world seems designed to distract us from our thoughts and feelings, to draw attention to the trivial and easy, and away from the import and but difficult.
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