Year Three, Day 22: Quiet Time

After a long day teaching and practicing piano, I found myself craving solitude. And a colossal cheeseburger on a gluten free bun. Yes, I am at Burgerville again. It is 6:54 p.m.

I just read the breaking news about the terrorist attacks in London. My heart is breaking. Again. And yet again I am praying. But since my revelation, through reading the words of Henri Nouwen yesterday, I feel an inner stillness and strength. Instead of being pulled down by all the turmoil and horror, and feeling broken, afraid and helpless, I talk to God. And I imagine him reaching out to hold my hand.

Still, I shed a tear for all those suffering.

My news of dropping another pound this morning now seems shallow in comparison to the suffering. Everyday, somewhere, a person is suffering. I pray for all those who suffer. That they may find peace. I often find peace in my faith. When I take the time to be still and pray. It's easy to get carried away with all the EVERYTHING that is continually distracting us. When I am out of balance, I find myself REACTING rather than BEING.

And now, I am craving solitude. Just God, the words of Henri Nouwen and me.

I leave you with his words. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Love,

Zita

"We simply need quiet time in the presence of God.Although we want to make all our time, time for God, we will never succeed if we do not reserve a minute, an hour, a morning, a day, a week, a month, or whatever period of time for God and Him alone. This asks for much discipline and risk taking because we always seem to have something more urgent to do and "just sitting there" and "doing nothing" often disturbs us more than it helps.But there is no way around this. Being useless and and silent in the presence of our God belongs to the core of all prayer. In the beginning we often hear our own unruly inner noises more loudly than God's voice. This is at times very hard to tolerate. But slowly, very slowly, we discover that the silent time makes us quiet and deepens our awareness of ourselves and God..." (The Essential Henri Nouwen, Edited by Robert A. Jonas)

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