Listening

It is in the spaces, in between all the things, where wisdom can be found.

The embrace with my cousin who just lost her sister, that moment when it goes past what is expected, what is customary. That moment when your heart breaks  and her heart breaks. No words are said. The brook of tears rolls and you just want to make her know that you care, even though it's never going to be the same, ever.

The middle of night, when something interrupts and then all the worries and information of a busy life overwhelm sleep. In those moments, the street is silent, soft breathing noises move throughout the house, the dog sighs and lays on top of my feet. The moon glistens through the lace and I hear the Word speaking: "Be anxious for nothing...." It cradles my heart as I wonder how we ever got this fractured.

In a morning of sickness, when the house has emptied of everyone but me and I lay curled in my bed, wondering if normalcy will ever come again. The quiet house encircles me like a friend. The luxury and agony of illness unfurl the thoughts that have curled up and lay dormant in the face of too much doing. Thoughts like old fashioned books, long and resplendent in their descriptions. Thoughts of things that I haven't slowed down to think about. Regrets, defeats, thankfulness and joy. 

The spaces between the things. Moments in the car, listening to a good song. Turning off the phone because it won't stop, won't ever stop....then listening to the peace of silence. Standing, stopping in the yard while the dog does her walk... hearing the breeze in the trees, the birds, the water rippling on the pond. Staring at the inky sky, the wonder of the galaxies just showing off. Those spaces, where all the things are being. Just being.

We strive for the drama of life, the big things, the moments of glory. We live for it. Die for it. Even kill ourselves for it. But when God spoke to Elijah in the book of First Kings, he didn't show himself in the fierce wind, the earthquake or the fire... He came as a whisper, a still, small voice. God in the tiny places, in the spaces, in the hushed and seemingly insignificant corners, where quietness reigns. Stop. Can you hear it?