Have You Ever Been Alone with God?

"Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him," -- Oswald.

Getting rid of the noise in my head can be a challenge. I have a walk I like to take that is all uphill one way, and the whole way up, I am fretting and striving and pushing and breathing hard -- trying to expend all the noise and energy racing around in my brain. I stop for a few moments at the top, look out at the view -- pine trees, houses and rolling hills -- and try to flip the switch. Not so much from on to off as from listening to the noise to listening for God. I started to say "listening to God," but that wouldn't really be accurate. I don't hear him speaking to me, and it's not a certainty of his presence. Mostly, I try to stay outside my own head and open to signs of him. I try to appreciate the beauty and keep my senses attuned, and almost always, I catch something -- a sense of peace or awe, a breath of inspiration. Sometimes I catch myself wrestling with ideas on the way down, but for the most part, the noise subsides, and for those ten minutes, I am open.

Barbara