Claim the Silence:

First of all, I want to apologize for not getting back here every day last week. That is my plan --- that darn plan again! --- but it just didn't happen this week. I'll try to do better next week. And now, the small change for Week 1:
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Your change this week is to find 15 minutes a day when you can sit in silence. Sounds simple enough? Think again! What if God were whispering in your left ear right now? Would you be able to hear him? Oh sure, just a minute, let me hit the Mute button on the TV, finish up this cell phone call and put the phone on vibrate, hit Pause on my MP3 player … NEVER MIND, TOO LATE!

You don’t have to believe in “Whispers from God”; in fact, you don’t even have to believe in God, to realize how much truth there is in this scenario. Our lives are bombarded by sound. We don’t even think about what we might be missing by having no silence in our lives. So this week, we are going to reclaim our silence and see if we can find out. For just 15 minutes a day – you pick the time – sit in silence. No music, not even soft relaxing music. No books or anything else to distract your eyes. In fact, closed eyes are best. No activities with your hands, unless it is something very rhythmic and mindless like petting a cat. Fifteen minutes a day for seven days of sitting quietly.

The first problem will be finding a time during the day when you can do this. You may have to get creative. Drive to a quiet park on your lunch hour. Take more baths. Wake up a little earlier each day or stay up a little later each evening. You have the time in your day to do this. The benefits far outweigh what may, at first, seem to be an inconvenience.

On the 7th day, at the end of your fifteen minutes, take a few minutes to write some notes in a journal about any changes you have noticed in your life as the result of this change. This does not have to be a fancy journal unless you want it to be. A three-ring binder, a note pad, or even a computer document – any of these will do just fine. The key here is to consistently write down your thoughts. If the going gets tough, or you don’t think you are making significant changes in your life, you can go back and read these notes to yourself.

Thanks for being here and now.
KT