Whispers

Strains of Mozart, mingled with centuries old carols and Church bells fill the frosty air of Austrian Christmas markets.  Dating from the Middle ages, the traditional Advent markets, festive with thousands of lights, lovely aromas of roasting chestnuts, gingerbread, and spicy hot gluhwein, create a calmly enchanting atmosphere.  Wandering through the avenues of radiant booths, there is an enveloping  lack of frenzy.  (Well, maybe that is the gluhwein!)   Advent, which means “coming” or “arrival,” focuses on the celebration of Christ’s birth, the “first advent,” while anticipating His return. Wandering through the Baroque markets, there is a perceptible tranquility of that expectation and preparation permeating the atmosphere. It is a lovely “stillness.”

The chestnuts and gluhwein are unfortunately missing, but my habitation is currently a stillness that I am learning to embrace.  The challenge to locate gaps of motionless time is too familiar to me, and no doubt, the allure of multi-tasking will always be at hand.  However, immobility has brought a refreshing refinement of being Still.  The process of simple thinking has been affected by the Interferon, as well as energy and physical abilities, yet furnished in their stead is a cherished calm.  The freedom of letting go and living squarely in the moment is energizing in itself! 

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”   Within the benefit of stillness, “settling down in complete dependence,” arrives.  The aspects of busyness to which I am drawn, are traded for finding the fullness of God in the quiet.  The gift of gripping that truth more firmly is timely…….as the frenetic pace of Christmas arrives.  The voice of “Advent” is instead amplified, and I am reminded of how God speaks to us.  “ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.” ( 1 Kings 19:11-12.)     Quiet is not an empty place; it holds out the fullness of “Immanuel,” God with us, as the stillness offers the gift of His presence and the great love that He whispers to our hearts. I am so grateful for this time that conveys the silence to hear them!

Meanwhile, conversation is returning, & exquisite times with granddaughters, family and friends have been a vital part of these past couple of wks and will greet the wks ahead.   It is a superb time to be still and thank God for dear ones that surround us!