The importance of quiet (Guest Post from Tim Bennett)

I don’t really like being quiet.  I am not a huge fan of sitting still for long periods of time.  I like to do things…talk to people…read the news…watch movies….listen to LOUD music….check Facebook.  But I am learning that God’s design for us is that we need what the Bible calls a “Sabbath” – time to be quiet and to rest.  This is when God seems to meet us – and in the world we live in, achieving this is really hard.

Last Saturday 18 people attended a workshop with Dr Jane Simon where they learned some of the skills we need to be able to sit quietly, pray and meditate.  Then on Tuesday, the staff from LUC spent a day on Coochimudlo Island on a spiritual retreat where we learned and practiced these disciplines as well. (with our leader “Keechie-mudlo”).

One of the activities I chose to do was to reflect on the passage of Scripture in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah finds God in the still, small voice.  I wrote some things down and finished before the time allotted.  I stood up to walk to the other side of the verandah where I was sitting and this is when God really started to speak to me.  I spotted a Kookaburra sitting on the fence next door waiting for a storm to pass.  He was perfectly still and perfectly quiet.

I realized that the Kookaburra – more than any other creature in Australia – loves to laugh and be noisy.  He has a good noisy laugh with his friends every morning and another one every evening.  However, the Kookaburra relies on total silence and total stillness for his very survival.  If the Kookaburra cannot remain still and quiet, he cannot catch his lunch and he starves.

I heard the still small voice of God challenging me with the same thought…there is nothing wrong with laughter, talk and activity – but - without times of necessary quiet, my busy-ness will make me sick and tired and I will slowly starve.

One of the things that you are going to keep hearing from us as a church is the concept of “living to a different rhythm.”  It’s counter-cultural…it goes against the prevailing wisdom of “always be busy.”  God was serious enough about a Sabbath rest that in the Old Testament that He didn’t just recommend it – He commanded it!  As a community we are slowly rediscovering the necessity of some form of Sabbath where we are quiet and still.

I am not good at this.  I am learning along with you to rest and be quiet and still.  My prayer for you this week is that you find that place of stillness and quiet; that God meets you there and that you find the rest and peace that you need to continue engaging with your day to day responsibilities.

Tim (Bennett)

Ps.  There is another half day prayer and meditation retreat coming up on Saturday Nov 23 from 9:00am to 12:30pm.  Call 3387 5777 or email info@luc.org.au for more information.