Cultivating quiet in the cacophony of life

Our world is a cacophony of noise. From the moment that we wake until we finally drift off to sleep at night, we are bombarded by sound. Furthermore, our lives are filled with demands, requests, deadlines and expectations. We are complicated, self-obsessed, and selfish – so often driven by desire. And the world and culture that we find ourselves in simply pours fuel on the fire. How are we, in the midst of all this, to cultivate a life and an attitude of quiet?

I recently stumbled across this quote from the mystic Francois Fenelon,

“How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak.”

Francois Fenelon (1651-1715)

And it struck me. In the 1600s this was an unusual thing. How much more is this so, for us, today? For all our advancements and improvements in life, I wonder, have we made this any easier? Or far more difficult? But, perhaps, it has always been difficult. And it always will be. The question that remains is simply what we will do to facilitate the quietness of our soul?

There was a point in my life, some years ago now, when I felt that God was telling me to turn down the volume. To choose to turn things off. To embrace and to seek silence. And so I began to do just that. Instead of listening to the radio, I would not have anything playing in the car. Instead of filling every moment with noise, I would choose to take a moment (fleeting though they often were) and sit in silence. Be it for a minute while my children were playing happily outside when I would choose not to pick up my phone. Or to pause, momentarily, between the rush of chores and activity to cast my thoughts upon Jesus.

This is no easy thing to do for everything that surrounds us seeks to demand more, not less, of us. And so I find this is a lesson that I often return to, as I so easily forget and begin, yet again, to fill my life with noise. But, I have found, these times of silence, of quiet, are essential if I am to hear the voice of God.

Of course, while choosing to quiet our surroundings is a vital step in this process, it is only the beginning. For once we have done this, then we must tackle the far more difficult task of quietening our mind, and of stilling our racing thoughts so that we can make room for God to speak. For as I am sure you are aware, we can be in a place of outward peace, of calm and quiet, and yet the turmoil raging within us can be the antithesis of the quiet soul.

So how are we to do that? There are many things I have done to bring myself into a space that is conducive to hearing the voice of God. For many years I would pick up a book, often on prayer, and read some pages. I found this so helpful in settling my mind and helping me come to a place where I could read my Bible and then spend time in prayer. Other times I would listen to music. Or I might walk on the beach.

Nowadays, I tend to simply read some small portion of scripture, and use that as a starting point. Oddly enough, I have discovered that while I love being out in creation and whilst I feel the nearness of God in those spaces. I find that I am too overwhelmed and distracted by sounds, sights and other people, to easily hear the voice of the Lord in those places. I know that many people find the opposite, but, for me, a quiet space within my home is a far simpler place for me to hear from God.

The early hours of the morning before my family are stirring, when quiet reigns over my house, are the most precious moments in my day, as I get up and go and sit with my Lord.

But the scattered moments throughout the day are different. We do not have in these the luxury of extended time in which to bring ourselves into such a place. In these times, I find merely stopping and remembering who God is can be enough. Or thanking him for that moment, and for his presence. Then I slowly breathe and know that he is God, and I am not. I long for these pauses to punctuate my day. For these moments to become the foundation on which I stand. And that they would become increasingly frequent.

To be fair, I have been blessed with space and quiet in my life to a far greater extent than I would have once ever dreamed possible. My children are now all at school or kindergarten, so my mornings are no longer full of the busyness that small children bring. And I am blessed with time and space in which to write, to paint, to think and to pray. I know that many do not have that kind of time, and the creativity needed to carve out space and to develop a listening ear in the chaos of life is a great challenge.

But, perhaps, like me, you need to learn this lesson of embracing quiet. Of cultivating it within your life. May we be found to be people with souls that are quiet enough to hear God speak.

Dear Father, so often we can feel overwhelmed by the demands of our lives and the chaos that surrounds us. But we long for you. We long to know you more. To hear you moment by moment throughout our day. Teach us how to do that. Show us what we need to turn off. What we need to put away or to put aside. Teach us to be quiet enough that we can hear you, our precious Lord. Amen

How do you cultivate quiet? Is this something you find necessary? Or easy? How and where do you most easily connect with God? Do you find these moments throughout your day?

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