Saturday, February 27, 2010

Silence

Silence is not something I experience much in my life right now. As a kindergarten teacher, we don't have many quiet times, then working at a school- there is always something going on outside my hall. Same goes for home. It is not often that I come home and the house is completely quiet. TV or radio is left on for the dog or husband :) In my car ESPN radio is talking incessently. When I wake up in the morning my head starts to talk. Instant pictures flash through my brain, like digital images downloading on a computer. What am I going to think about today it flashes? Obviously a lot. Skinny girls have big fat thoughts.

Silence is hard. I try to sit in silence sometime in my day. I can't do it. That crazy chick in my head is always talking. The most silent lately has been the Sunday morning snow. It just softened our air, our town. Silence is for watching. Last night in the Olympics I watched the skiers on the top of the mountain. For the first time in a long time I could see what skiers liked. Minus all the cow bells for competion, skiing would be a place of silence. Soft snow high mountains, no talking. I experienced it once- in Jr. high- on a little bunny slope- I could not ski- but I found a place I could go around and around- in silence, by myself.

This season of Lent I have checked the d365.org website for a daily devotion. I love it- I look at it first thing everyday. It has soothing music, scripture, life connections and a prayer to send me off to my day. This year I did not give up Coke or chocolate for lent, but instead I am cultivating a habit.... Listening. I am not a good listener. I want to share my side. Be in control of the conversation and how it flows. But I know that Jesus listened and maybe I could be better. Listening takes practice. We are even practicing in Kindergarten so I get it there too.

So if you see me- and hopefully you do, I want to listen to you. What do you listen for? Questions? Emotions, Ideas. That is the fun of listening I guess. When you listen you learn. about people and the world. - and the scariest of all yourself.

1 comment:

  1. One of the best things I learned was to think about listening for the sake of listening, not in order to figure out what you are wanting to say next.

    I try to follow that. Sometimes I don't succeed! :)

    ReplyDelete