Is it just me or is the world especially noisy right now? The tattoo of national and international crises. The don’t-think-it’s-over-yet-Covid alarm bells. The jack hammering of either fixing the road or tearing it up to lay yet another kind of cable. That horrible scraping of metal when the tube train takes a curve. The throbbing sound track of the restaurant. The guy behind me on the bus facetiming on speaker phone.
It’s hard to get a thought in edgewise.
Sometimes that’s a good thing, I suppose, because there’s so much noise inside my own head. I can’t do much about those big noises (ear plugs, maybe, or yoga breathing, perhaps), but this morning I’m thinking about, indeed, longing for quiet.
Specifically, I’m praying for the grace and space to
Quiet my fears;
quiet the nagging sense that I’m not enough;
quiet the doubts that keep me from hope;
quiet the cynicism that squeezes out wonder;
quiet the noise that keeps me from hearing the spirit in me.
It’s not denial I’m wanting, only some rest, some time for the soul to refresh and gain strength and the courage to start again.
I pray for this for you, too, if you need it.
Annette Atkins
