time and space

There are days when I simply sort of take time out.

Not doing nothing, I should add. Anything but. No, it's more a case of my ensuring that I'm not being just so busy that I don't have time to listen in to God.

It's his word, after all, the people want to hear. Not mine. I mean, not even I really want to hear my word. So I have to take the time to hear just what God's saying. That takes time and space and simply being alone. With him, of course.

This week I've needed that as much as ever, there's been that much going on. So many different tasks to be attended to, so much in the way of running around.

I'm not saying that it's not been good, or that the things that I've been doing have been largely wasted time. Not at all. It's just that sometimes being so very busy is itself a sort of smart, sub-conscious therapy we use to try and shield our hearts from what we fear the silence and the slowness might then bring.

Like if we live our lives at such a pace perhaps the pain will never catch us up. Maybe there's something of that in the speed of our living these days. (Or maybe not!)

Today, though, it's the time and space I've needed, to be able to sit down alone and simply hear what God is saying to us all. And that's been good. I need a day like this.