Noise Canceling Headphones
Scripture Reference
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Reflection
Lately, I feel like the volume of the world around me is turned up to level ten.
The rhetoric of politics is vitriolic. The ever climbing coronavirus numbers are dire. The state of the economy is grim. People are fearful of one another and the unknown pathogens they carry, causing us to be caustic with one another. We’ve all heard the word “unprecedented” too many times this year. And not to be a prude, but violent language and dehumanizing insults have become the norm modeled by national leadership such that the populace has become numb to it, or even entertained by it.
It is noisy on the news and noisy in my spirit.
And even though I am still spending as much time in my home as ever, the world is still so present in my daily life, on screens and on the phone and in conversations with friends.
I could really use a little sanctuary to dampen all this noise.
I remember a time when I saw God work, when I heard God speak in that still small voice, and I know that what I need is to retreat. That means turning my phone over, Do Not Disturb on. It means turning the 24-hour coverage off for a while. It means closing my laptop, with its 30 open tabs.
It means listening to silence.
It means lighting a candle.
It means closing my eyes for a moment.
It means seeking God, where I know God is present, in this little dusty corner of my heart, so often neglected, where a little flame still burns.
So much attention has been paid to the noise, but I know that refreshment is found in this quiet corner.
This Spirit does not come like a butler to a bell, but like a bird to a nest. Sometimes I have to wait. There are no magic mantras or grounding exercises that summon Her. But I know that if I seek, I will find her, or maybe She finds me.
And in that moment, it is cool water in a desert, rich food to a hungry belly, the softness of a bird’s wing, swift enough and strong enough to cling to and feel held.
Submitted By:
Kelsey Vincent, Pastor for Youth and Families, First Baptist Church of Decatur