It’s very quiet way up here at the top of the library. I’m at the end of two rows of books facing a window that looks out over the campus of Notre Dame, lights sparkling in the gently falling snow. To my right, La Vie Spirituelle, apparently a French journal – the entire right side of me is French, in fact. To my left is a section of Il Monitore Ecclesiastico, this all in Italian. It’s a good place to come when you want peace and quiet and a place for your mind to just settle down for a little bit.
Why is it so hard to “quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place” as the song goes? It’s all-day-every-day the old mind is spinning, thinking, pondering, analyzing, creating, ruminating, considering, accepting, rejecting, remembering, forgetting… non stop. Sometimes I ask people, “What are you thinking about?” And they respond, “Nothing.” Nothing? Nothing? I can’t even fathom how this is possible. I don’t think I am capable of putting my mind in neutral and think of nothing. To be honest though, I don’t even want to think about nothing. I want my mind to stay active. What’s necessary, though, is to achieve the balance of being able to hear the voice of The Lord and not allow the busyness of the mind to overshadow that. It’s a challenge, to be honest. The stuff of life is noisy – music, media, movies, phones, people talking, cars and trucks and things that go… it’s hard to hear to the still small voice sometimes. I saw a post the other day that said, “The word Listen rearranged is Silent.” Isn’t that true. In order to listen, you have to shut your mouth. You have to shut out the rest of the sound and focus on what you are hearing. Whether it is focusing on the experience and sound of a beautiful piece of music, or listening to a well-told story, or just the conversation of a hurting friend, listening means being quiet for a little bit. And sometimes… if you let it, the silence speak volumes. Clarity comes in when you quietly open the door.
So here’s to taking a breath. Here’s to quieting down the chatter, sitting still for a little bit, and looking out over a city at night and listening.
“Let all that I am wait quietly before God,for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation,my fortress where I will not be shaken.” — Psalm 62:5-6