12 January 2025

In today’s Call to Worship, Ben read a piece from Richard Foster, which started, “My soul is noisy…” and it hit home like a flick on the nose. How often do I stay busy either at the urging of or to keep the noise at bay, or muffled at the very least? How often do I bury myself in work to silence the insistent noise that I should be doing something?  That to rest is weakness, laziness, worthless?

When did my soul become so full of that noise? Is this why I have felt so driven over the past few years to build in a practice of rest and quiet? I am so used to the nose but I do not want to be. I want to keep learning to rest and embrace quiet and stillness for my soul. To rest in defiance of the noise, to embrace the quiet in which the Lord speaks. Quakers often refer to faith and practice when speaking about the foundational beliefs and actions that make up our faith. I am looking to build in (or resurrect) practices that will aid in centering my self and my soul amidst the craziness of the world as it is.

I am trying to plant gardens of quiet amidst the busyness of my days, moments centered solely on not. On the sweet, slow practices that fill my soul. Right now, those practices center on reading. I am working to strengthen an age-old love of relaxing with books–with beloved and new stories, reflecting notions, and wise words–into a new habit. At this time, those intentional moments are right after work in the evening, transitioning into being at home again, and right before bed. Grounding my body in stillness and my mind in the quiet practice of reading, allowing myself to slow and calm after a highly-engaged day. May this be a blessed year of embracing quiet as a practice for me.