Reflection
With the hectic pace and demands of life, we often feel stressed and over-worked. There seems not enough time in the day to get everything done. Our stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient and frustrated.We are so busy we feel there is no time to pray or meditate. This is a mistake and should be reconsidered. During meditation, even for a short period of time, our minds and bodies are stilled and our whole focus is turned toward the Divine Mystery. For this period of time we pause, let go of our stress and calm ourselves. It is a restorative time of simplicity, integration and renewal. “Meditation is a way of coming to your own center, coming to the foundation of your own being, and remaining there—still, silent attentive.”
Prayer
May I remember that I am always sustained by God’s power.
Action
Try to make a specific time in your daily schedule to stop and have a
period of meditation no matter how short.
Suggested Reading
And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on for life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
Luke 12: 22 – 31
O God, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother’s breast; like a child that is quieted is my soul
Psalms 131: 1 – 3
Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a train.
Thomas Merton
“In solitude, listen to your heart, for at that moment, it speaks nothing but the truth.
Michael Bassey Johnson
Truly, sacred rest is soul care. We honor quiet time alone with God. We intentionally step away from the chaos of life. We unplug from noise and distractions. We relish moments of tranquility.
Dana Arcuri
My quiet time is not a gift I give to God.
My quiet time is a gift God gives me.
Emilie Barne
We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.
R. A. Torrey
Solitude is very different from a ‘time-out’ from our busy lives. Solitude is the very ground from which community grows. Whenever we pray alone, study, read, write, or simply spend quiet time away from the places where we interact with each other directly, we are potentially opened for a deeper intimacy with each other.
Henri Nouwen