Undo the Knots & Calm the Chaos

THINK

“As soon as we are alone,...inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distraction manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This makes the discipline of solitude all the more important.” 

-- Henri Nouwen

Solitude: 

We crave it and then, when we have it, we fill it with iPods, and smart phones, and radios, and all the worlds they open for us. We invite the noise into our silence, because we are uneasy in the quiet of our own thoughts. And yet, solitude holds the very tools we need to repair the chaos in our souls.

PRAY

Come, Holy Spirit! Help me to be comfortable in the silence of my own heart. Keep me company there. Undo the knots and calm the chaos. Teach me to be at ease in the silence of our companionship.

ACT

Make time to be silent for as long as possible today. Turn it all off. Be truly grateful for the time, even if it’s just a few moments. Tomorrow, try to go a little longer. 

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I like to pray when I run in the morning. Often, I listen to Divine Office and pray Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings. Then, I just take up a conversation with God. I'd love to pray for you! Please leave your prayer requests below and we can pray for each other, no matter how we spend our morning prayer time. Meet me back here tomorrow and I'll share the ponderings from my #morningrun.