Inner Life

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    As I read the story of Mary and the announcement of the virgin birth in Luke I am continually struck by Mary’s inner life. Repeatedly in the first chapters of Luke the gospel writer says that she treasured and pondered the words and works of God in her heart.

    I want to be one who attends to God, hears Him and treasures what He says and ponders it. In order to be that a few things need to take place:

Slowing down
Quiet
Paying attention
Listening
Waiting
Trusting

    How about you? Can you hear what God is saying?

    If so, do you treasure his words or are they equal with all other voices?
    Do you meditate on those treasured words and let them sink deep?

    As I seek to, I invite you to as well.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Too Busy for Beauty

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Beauty requires us to slow down. Beauty requires being seen, heard, felt and experienced. Beauty requires time. It requires time to listen fully and deeply to a piece of music. It requires time to take in the natural beauty of water, mountains, flowers and forests. It requires time to look at a piece of art, understand its story and consider what it means for you. It requires time to see the person standing before you, sitting next to you.

    God has given us beauty in so many forms and in our hurried world filled with superficial extras we miss beauty. We miss God.

    How will you take time for beauty today?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Natural Rhythms

**Sit quietly, relax and close your eyes for one minute before reading.**

    Slow down a bit. When we slow the natural rhythms of life become apparent. In a world of scheduling and constant movement, slowing down allows us to see the natural rhythm of creation, including our own hearts, minds and bodies. We notice how our hearts respond to sad news and notice when those feelings of sadness linger. We notice the times of day that our mind tends to wander or struggle with thinking truth things. We eat when we are hungry rather than when we have a scheduled lunch break. We notice our bodies and how they respond to the day. We not only notice when we are having an “off” day but when we slow we might actually be able to discern why we are having an “off” day.
    We also notice the natural rhythm of others and this increases our sensitivities to them as we consider how they respond to a day, a difficult or joyful life event.
    What natural rhythms have you noticed in life? How can slowing down and taking notice of rhythms connect you to deeper parts of our soul?

**Sit quietly again for as long as is available to you.**

Embrace Interruption

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Can you be interrupted? Is your pace of life so fast that interruptions cause frustration, raise your blood pressure and are seen as nuisances? Or is your pace of life slow enough to embrace interruption and respond to it appropriately?
    Many of us are not fans of interruptions unless it will benefit us somehow. I often get so enamored with my own thoughts or plans that any small interruption sends me into a tailspin. An interruption has stopped ME, gotten in MY way and is not as important as ME.
    I have found that my immediate response to interruptions is an indicator of the state of my heart and the focus of my mind. These interruptions can come from people, from ourselves, a random statement, a disappointment and even from God. Not all interruptions demand the same amount of time and attention but often we do not give enough attention to important interruptions (even if they are unwelcome). These interruptions can be gifts from God.
    How has God interrupted you lately? Have you been able to slow down, accept the interruption and receive the gift that it might be? Maybe He wants to teach you something, maybe He wants to remind you of His great love, maybe He wants to show you how to love others. The gift of an interruption is endless, especially when the interruptions are from God. How great it is to receive these gifts!
    What is your pace of life? Is it slow enough to both recognize and respond to interruptions? How might you dwell on an interruption from God, looking to hear more deeply from Him? How can the interruptions of those around you be seen as an opportunity to love and minister to them?
    Embrace interruption.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Hearing God

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    It is the season of Christmas where unfortunately all things start to move faster, there is more on the to-do list and things are more crowded (literally). We tend to be more frustrated, less patient and lose sight of Jesus. This is the perfect opportunity to choose to slow down and hear what God wants to speak to our hearts.
    Slowing allows us to hear more clearly things that would not have heard the first time around. Chances are if we are running around busy, or concerned about our check list we often have not heard correctly the first time anyway! Slowing down allows me to hear more clearly what another is saying to me and also what God is saying to me.
    To sit and listen to God takes time, it takes discipline and it clarifies things.
    In the times I have practiced slowing I have sat down with a cup of hot tea (which almost automatically causes you to slow down), no agenda, possibly read something short and just waited. I am tempted to get up after about 10 minutes and read more or go do something productive. For me, I have found that after about 45 minutes of sitting and sipping hot tea that something comes forth. Either a truth pierces my heart or I recall something and God brings light to it. If I do not slow down and sit, I miss this.
    Consider making time to sit with God. Drink whatever warm drink you’d like and sit with Him, alone. Read a passage of Scripture and talk to God, but spend most of your time listening. Ask Him to speak to your heart. Pay attention to the things that come up and listen for God.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Seeing Deeply and Differently

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Slowing gives us the opportunity to see deeper. Slowing gives us the opportunity to see beyond the surface and into the true heart of a matter. This can be something that God might be doing in us and He wants us to see deeper. This might be something that God is wanting us to see in another so that we can encourage him or her.
    Slowing also gives us opportunity to see a different perspective. In slowing we look at the same person, situation or thing for much longer than if we were on our busy schedule. With slowing the longer gaze might bring forth a different perspective. This different perspective might increase our compassion or increase our love. This different perspective might lead us to live differently than we have been.
    Slowing gives us opportunity to see deeper and differently. What might God want you to see deeper today? Who or what might God want you to see differently today?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Enjoying the Present through Slowing

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Slowing and the Present. Today, like very few other days of the year, I really want to live in the present. It is my daughter’s first birthday. I want to live this day FULLY. I do not want to miss anything and if I packed out my schedule with things then I totally would.
    Slowing naturally leads us to live more fully in the present. When we’re running around in a frenzy we are constantly looking for the next task that needs to be completed, the next to-do. We completely miss the present. What a way to live life!
    I don’t know about you, but I struggle to live in the present. I truly have to discipline myself to slow down and a result of that slowly is living in and enjoying the present. I am not forcing myself to live in the present, I simply slow things down and enjoying the present comes naturally. My life has less anxieties and worries about the future and a by-product is enjoying the present.
    Sure there was her party to plan and there is college to plan for, but slowing and getting rid of the unnecessary frees me to savor the present, savor those around me and savor God as He meets me in today.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

More is Better, right? (Slowing and Quality)

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    More is better, right? Quantity is always better than quality, right? There are times when more is better and quantity is better than quality but not always. When we live a life of busyness, addicted to hurry and productivity we live as if more is always better and quantity is always better than quality. This is just not true. There are times when less is better and quality trumps quantity.
    When we practice slowing, our compulsion to collect decreases. We learn to savor things that are of quality and of worth. When we practice slowing we notice things in life that are more valuable and we appreciate and invest in those things.
    One area I’ve noticed an increase in quality is in slowing down when I read. I used to always look for the end of the chapter and now I rarely do. It takes me a long time to finish a book. I read for transformation, especially when I read Scripture. I read and stop if something sticks out to me and catches my eye. I stop, meditate and pray on what I just read. There are times that I’ve read the same story for over a week because I sense that there is something more to it and I just need to keep on re-reading it and praying about it.
    What would you consider slowing down in order to increase quality?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Addicted to Busy

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Oh how I love being on the move, active, working, busy. I love having something to think about, process, solve. I do not easily sit still and work until I am worn out. Our culture encourages busy and we have become addicted to it. When we are not busy we have a sense of loss, confusion and sometimes question if the few things we are doing are worth anything. At times it becomes a compulsion to move, say something, act. Busyness can very much become an addiction as we experience the adrenaline boost and accomplishment of doing a lot of things.
    Even though we are doing a lot of things and it makes us feel good there are times when busyness is not good. Yes, sometimes we have to get things done but I think that we get in this mode and are so used to the fast pace we do not know how to slow down.
    A discipline that I practice on and off (and really should just practice all the time) is the discipline of slowing down. It is a simple yet challenging discipline, choosing, on purpose to slow our lives down a little bit. It includes practices such as chewing more slowly, walking more slowly, reading for transformation rather than just information, not looking for the fastest check-out lane and even choosing to drive in the slow lane of traffic. I know, some of these sound crazy, but the benefits of choosing to slow in even a small way are significant. You’ll find this discipline and the benefits of it popping up on the blog here and there over the next few weeks.
    So, hopefully you’re already sitting, take a deep breath and ask God how He might want you to slow down. Ask God to show you where you are addicted to busyness and hurry. Trust Him as you choose to slow.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

The Gift of Listening

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    In a world where we are being bombarded with messages, mostly unimportant, we are losing the ability to listen. In a culture where one’s words are valued more than their silence, we are losing the ability to listen. In a society where words persuade and influence and silence is seen as weak or unintelligent, we are losing the ability to listen.
    To listen is a gift to others and a gift to ourselves. We are often impatient when listening to another, waiting for our turn to speak and thinking of what we are going to say while they are speaking. We often do not slow down enough to listen to others, listen to ourselves or even listen to God.
    Listening requires slowing down and that is just not what everyone around us is doing. That is not how the world is. Everything is going faster and faster is better. Or is it?
    Spend time today choosing to listen. Listen to God. Listen to others. Hear what is being spoken.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Rich Moments

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

Rich Moments. My heart is tied up in measuring my life by chronological time, by the clock, rather than by moments. Often we think the most valuable things take the most time. A rich moment does not have to be a long one. There is a depth to moments that cannot be measured by a clock or calendar. I wish I were more patient and more attentive to these moments and opportune times. They mold and shape us. They add joy, life, contentment and peace. They allow us to see God and others in deeper ways. Time can be more than a hand moving around a clock yet we often lower the value of time to be just that. Time can be measure by depth and not just length. This measurement is often more valuable. God often slows down our lives so that we have opportunity for rich moments. What rich moments has God brought you? What will He bring?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Slow Down

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

Slow down. Those words seem nonexistent in our vocabularies. I always think that if I slow down then I’ll miss something or won’t get things done that need to get done. Truth is that if I don’t slow down I might miss the most important things. Slowing down is not a sign of weakness, it is actually a sign of strength and trust. There are times to go at warp speed and there are times to slow down our pace. Slowing demonstrates trust that God is sovereign and that there are greater moments happening that we just might miss out on. Try slowing down and trusting God today through slowing.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**