Quiet

If Christ – knowing that His time was so limited – could go away to a quiet place to pray, then there really is no excuse at all for me and all my noise… 

Jesus Goes Up Alone Onto a Mountain to Pray (James Tissot)

The world used to be slower.  There used to be a time when there was no internet or television or even radio and telephone.  There was a time when evenings were quiet.  People would sit in front of a fireplace and read to each other or tell each other stories about their day.

These days we move at a very different pace.  We move at an almost frantic pace.

With the invention of AI we have become so fast at getting things done.  I can re-draft an email very quickly.  I can prepare a bill for a client.  I could even do a little research.

How the world has changed.  When I was a university student and I needed to do research for assignments, I would need to physically travel to the library and use the photocopying machine to make photocopies of journals and books.  If the library where I was did not have a particular book or journal, I would have to travel to other libraries so that I would be able to find the books in physical format and use them for my assessments.

Sometimes I needed to travel to completely different suburbs to find the books that I required.

These days, if I wish to conduct academic research, I am able to use my computer and the internet and to search online for most of the articles that I may need.  Many books are also available in digital format.  This means that if I were to conduct research, I would be able to get the information needed directly from my computer in the comfort of my own home.  Previously I would need to paraphrase things and summarise into note format so that I could use the information that I had uncovered.  These days, things work much more quickly.  I could instead copy and paste sections of text and use those as paraphrased in my own work.  I could complete whole summaries more quickly and thus finish the tasks more easily.

I have been thinking about that as I have been thinking about that today as I have been reflecting on my inability to sit quietly and in silence.  I have crowded the silence with noise and activity.  There are phones and emails and televisions and radios and internet and conversation.  There are a million different things that fill the space.

There is much to be learned from silence.  After all, how many times are we told in the Gospel that Christ left the crowds and went to a quiet place to pray.  He did not sit amid the noise and hustle and bustle.  He sat quietly.  In silence.  He waited patiently.  He stopped what He was doing and He let time pass.  And He had such limited time here on Earth to do the Will of the Father.  He died at thirty-three years old (ten years younger than me) after only three years of public ministry.

And if Christ – knowing that His time was so limited – could go away to a quiet place to pray, then there really is no excuse at all for me and all my noise…  No excuse at all…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.