Ever feel as though you’re running from one thing to the next? With barely enough time to think about what comes next, let alone be present in the moment?
In full honesty, I find myself in such a mentality more often than I care to admit. But always looking toward the next thing, and then the next thing, and then the next thing, it becomes almost impossible to be attentive to the people around me, to the situations around me, to what’s going on within me, and to movement of God.
I have to force myself to give myself “gap times” in my day so that this habit doesn’t become a snowball that goes out of control. Thankfully, most days I have the luxury to do so. I clearly respect that the ability to build in “gap times” is not something as easily done for each person, especially for those caring for kids or other family members.
But even with these other demands on our lives, what would happen if we just gave a bit of space? What would we notice? What would we hear?
This Advent season, I encourage you to create some “gap times” in your life. Have kids? Create “gap times” for them, too. It’s amazing what research shows us about kids having some space to rest before moving onto another activity. In Sunday morning worship, we’ll be creating some “gap times” as well. Often, we move from one element of worship to the next, and to the next, and to the next, without much of a chance to digest what we just said, or what was just read, or what was just sung. So this season, especially around the Scripture readings, we’re going to have some silence. For the first few weeks, if that silence feels intimidating, don’t be alarmed. We aren’t too used to silence in our culture. But the more we practice taking a moment of silence, the more rewarding it might become.
God is still speaking. And God is still working within us and among us. We just might need to create some time…to listen.