I am on retreat this week. Making a retreat is such a good way to grow spiritually. We live in a very busy world. How many of us have phones, computers, ipads, ipods, radios, televisions, etc. There is noise all around us. When we go shopping, the store has music playing in the background. When we go out to eat, there is music playing while everyone is talking. Waiting in the doctor's office, waiting on hold or just standing in line, there is always something playing in the background.
And then there is the everyday noise that surrounds us. As I am writing this I hear my printer working. The window is open, so I hear the cars going past. There are sirens, people talking, a plane overhead and the door bell ringing. We are surrounded by noise.
I'll just stop with the noise and not even talk about how busy everyone is nowadays. One of my favorite scripture passages is from the 1 Book of Kings 19:12. Elijah was waiting for God and there was a wind so powerful that it was breaking rocks, but God was not in the wind. After the wind there was a earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but God was not in the fire. All that noise and power, but God was not there. After the fire there was a gentle whisper. God was in the gentle whisper.
During our retreat we spend the time in silence. We are able to hear that gentle whisper of God because we not only turn off all of the outside noises but our interior noises as well. We try to turn off the worry, the planning, and the thinking about all the busyness in our lives. And we tune into the tiny whisper of God. He is speaking to all of us, if we just take time to be still and listen.
