Come join me on the bench

The Quakers, a group whom I love and respect have this saying I’ve adopted, “Centering Down.”  It refers to those moments when the friends enter their worship space, sit on their benches and begin to still themselves outwardly and inwardly so that they can become more open to the voice of God speaking to them.  I love this idea for a few reasons.  One, it implies that the voice of God is speaking to us in the midst of our lives.  But it also acknowledges that this voice is sometimes hard to hear, especially since it competes with all of the noise around and and even inside of us.   The good news is that if we stop for even just a few minutes and settle ourselves down a bit, then God’s voice can still be heard.  It may be just a whisper sometimes, but it is there.  And not only in a worship space that we go to occasionally, but it is there in every single ordinary yet still sacred moment of our lives.  The trick is to remember to stop and quiet ourselves in the middle of the rush and busyness that is typical of so many of our days.

So as I begin this blog I invite you to come and join me on this little bench.  We we sit together you and I and those gathered with us and we will remember the space we are in this very second is holy ground.  Let it be for us place where the wind whispers God’s voice.  Come sit here for a few minutes and let things settle a bit.  And as we begin to center down we’ll listen expectantly for for God’s voice to speak into our lives.  It may come through a lesson learned on a hard day, or a funny thing a kid says or a chance encounter with a stranger we met in passing.  The thing about God’s voice is we don’t exactly know where it will come from, but we can trust that it is speaking.  I’m grateful to be able to share those whispers with you and invite you to do the same.

By the way, I think I picked the bench picture above because it reminded me of my favorite “centering down” place, Green Bough House of Prayer.  What’s your favorite spot to settle?

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