Sometimes I have a hard time slowing down. I am usually a very enthusiastic person who delights in new experiences and information. As such, I am often busy buzzing around from one thing or place to the next, absorbing. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as I have a discovered so much about myself and others and have learned a type of focus all the while moving along; sort of like bees over a bed of flowers– always moving but purposeful. However, sometimes it is important to just sit… still. We all know how challenging that is in this ever quickening world with deadlines and responsibilities, but how can we hear God’s call through the den unless we pause and listen. As I sat in church this morning just before we began the rosary, I was struck by the power of the silence. And yet, as I left to walk home my mind began racing again with the business of the day. I wanted to get home to write a post for this blog, figure out daily plans, etc. Even with good intentions I wasn’t allowing myself to stay in the sacred space I had created inside me just before praying. No small wonder that when I sat down to start typing the post my mind was blank. I started flipping through books and scripture searching for something tangible to connect to any one of the million threads in my mind, but it wasn’t until I stopped that I started to feel the presence of God again, just as I had in church. Silence in powerful, but for most of us it does not come naturally. It must be intentionally created, sought and given space.
May you create silence in your day, drawing strength and peace from it and perhaps hearing the voice of God.
The Minute monk 
So true… the storm that tossed the boat that night was like our world—noisy and tumultuous, the din of mankind, as you say. When Peter focused on Christ, did he shut out the storm? Did the connection he made bring an instant of spiritual, soulful silence out there in the waves? I want to believe that it did; I want to feel the power of the Christ connection in the silence you describe.
I totally get what you mean about finding silence! But when I take the time to be quiet and talk with God, I’m always thankful for the messages and serenity I receive. Thank you for this well-written, insightful piece.
No one person can ever have the same experience as another, but as a person with ADHD, I too, struggle with staying centered. The New York Times once printed an article about ADHD, in which an attorney was quoted, saying “can you understand that when we’re in conversation, while you’re speaking to me, there’s a carnival going on in my head?” It’s not meant to be funny. One of the only tools, other than prescription medicine, that I’ve learned works for me was suggested to me by a former spiritual director. He said that when random thoughts invaded my serenity, I should briefly acknowledge them, then visualize them moving through a screen. I am then again with my calmness of spirit. Peace, focus, serenity, oneness with God is indeed difficult in a word where we are constantly assaulted by sounds, actions, interruptions, worries. Not fighting them,but not trying to solve them sometimes helps me return to that “peace of God which passes all understanding”
Also, for me, the stateliness of liturgy, the steps of beauty, prayer, music, incense, intentional directed movement, with which we worship can sometimes over come the carnival in my mind.
I, too, was diagnosed with ADD– I can relate! It used to feel like watching TV while someone kept flipping the channel. A method that works for me is to tell people I am close to that if they want to share something important with me and it seems as though Iam not paying attention, gently touch my arm when they speak. It’s amazing to me how the physical touch can help me center and focus on them. I’m sure there’e a future post on that! 🙂