At Home in the Quiet

As a writer, I’m always paying attention to my surroundings. The books I read and places I go reward my inner world with a myriad of thought-provoking topics. I also keep a journal of quotes from authors who speak to my greatest need of the moment.

Wendell Berry is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read many of his books of prose and poetry. One of his most popular books is Hannah Coulter, a simple, yet profound, story of the life of a woman in rural Kentucky. I first listened to this book on Hoopla and loved it so much I ordered the paperback version. I want to share one of the quotes that gives insight to my writing life.

The quote comes on page 87. I’m including a good portion of the paragraph for context:

 

“…That is where I go to rest before I begin my slow climb back home again. I sit and let the quiet come to me. It doesn’t come right away. I have to quiet myself before I can hear the quiet of the place, and a car passing along the road up on the hillside or an airplane flying over makes it harder. But I listen and wait, and at last, it comes. It is an old quiet, only deepened by the sound of the creek, a bird singing, or a barking squirrel.”

 

This passage stirs something deep inside me. I love the quiet times when I sit before the Lord attentive to His voice. There is no way on earth to hear Him in the busy world we live in unless we get quiet, and I’m very much at home in the quiet, but sometimes I must seek it.  And just as Hannah says, “It (the quiet) doesn’t come right away…but at last, it comes.”

Do you run on empty, or fumes at best? If you’re like me, the noise of social media is overwhelming and at times suffocating. As the political season ramps up again, my phone notifications have increased many times over. As a dear friend says, “It’s too much!” Our world is too loud. I run to passages such as the one above to quiet my soul.

Being an introvert, the posture of sitting quietly is enough for me. It awakens my senses to all of creation around me. It slows my pulse to the beat of birdsong and squirrels rustling through leaves. It allows my mind to ponder the thoughts that swirl through my brain, and yet, it slows those very same thoughts and creates wonder and recognition of beauty. 

Sitting outside as a gentle, springtime breeze wafts across my face, sunlight peeking through branches, I'm reminded that light cannot be stopped. It has the power to slip through and cut the darkness like a knife. And one day, the Light of the world will descend on a cloud and pierce the darkness with His presence. I'd miss all this without the stillness.

The ebb and flow and rhythm of life speaks through a megaphone in the quiet corners of my soul and leaves me filled to overflowing with God’s goodness.

Only then am I able to give and serve in the way God created me. If you’re struggling with too much noise, find a quiet place where the sound of a rippling stream transports you to that place of rest and peace that only God can give. He will fill you and strengthen you to live out your calling in a world that needs to hear your voice. 

Quietly, of course.