From the Rush to a Hush

Shhhh…People are quieting down all over the place.They’re discovering how to be still … or, at least, they’re trying to.They’re stopping. Pausing. Praying.People are enjoying silence.Ann Voskamp at Holy Experience is taking us by the hand this week and leading us to quiet places with her primer on slowing down and how to seek. She invites others to post on intentional slowness. Scroll down her Wednesday post to visit others who are seeking to slow.L.L. Barkat, too, at Seedlings in Stone, is returning to lazy moments, outside, stopping and sitting in the yard to breathe in the air. Her heart, she says, “still needs rain, seeds, wind, sky.” She’s invited others to slow down, as well. Visit her post “Drift Me” and scroll down to visit those who have shared their thoughts and experiences on slowing.Jennifer at Getting Down with Jesus is seeking quiet in order to find stillness.Laura Boggess at High Calling Blogs is leading an online book club discussion about The Wisdom of the Wilderness. In her recent post “Power of the Slowing,” Laura describes a busy morning packing lunches for her boys. Her 10-year-old son asked, “Have you seen the moon this morning?” Laura writes:

We were going to be late.But I couldn’t help myself.  I paused what I was doing and joined him in front of the window. And there it was, my full faced moon-friend, hanging low in the misty dark of the pre-dawn. I moved behind my boy and wrapped my arms around his ever-growing body.And. We. Just. Looked.

Just taking a moment here and there—pausing to look at the moon, sitting for a moment of quiet, turning off the television for one half-hour—we can take baby steps toward living a slower life.We can begin to listen.We can go from the rush, to a hush.The children’s book Goodnight Moon is a favorite with children. I think it’s because after full, rushed days, the simple process of saying “goodnight” to each item in the room is a child’s way of slowing. It’s an antidote to the sped-up, frenzied day the family may have endured.Goodnight moon.Goodnight cow jumping over the moon.The day is coming to a close. I think I’ll sip a little cocoa.Goodnight light and the red balloon.Turn off the computer. Look over my planner. Scribble another to-do list item. Write a thank-you note.Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks.Pull out a journal. Pen. Bible. My Utmost for His Highest. Set them on the table next to my bed. Before settling in with my books and writing, however, I prepare to tuck in the children.Goodnight little house and goodnight mouse.Room by room, I will kiss children and pray. Then I’ll climb into my own bed.Goodnight stars, goodnight airA page in My Utmost for His Highest.It says, “If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him for myself, and how to get alone with him; I must take time to worship the Being Whose Name I bear. ‘Come unto Me’—that is the place to meet Jesus.”Goodnight noises everywhere. I must know Him for myself, and how to get alone with him.And it occurs to me, as the day winds down, that I might actually be the old lady whispering “hush.”Find silence; be still.”‘Come unto Me’—that is the place to meet Jesus.”Each of us must know Him for ourselves … and how to get alone with him.Shhhh …

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