CHAPTER 1
Just Be Quiet
Stillness for Those Too Busy to Sit Still
There is a quiet, open place in the depths of the mind, to which we can go many times in the day and lift up our soul in praise, thankfulness and conscious unity. With practise his God-ward turn of the mind becomes an almost constant direction, underlying all our other activities.
— Kenneth Boulding
Words may help and silence may help, but the one thing needful is that the heart should turn to its Maker as the needle turns to the pole. For this we must be still.
— Caroline Stephen
Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you.
— Jesus
"Shut up," he explained.
— Ring Lardner
I'm not good at being quiet. There. Got that out of the way. People assume that, since I'm a lifelong Quaker, I must have some genetic bent for staying silent — silence being a hallmark of Friends worship and witness, after all.
In fact, since I'm confessing to my badness, I may as well admit that when I first started writing this chapter, I opened a blank document — and iTunes. Stumble!
I live in the land of sound. I like it. When I built my house, I wired it for music and movie dialogue. When I bought my latest car, it came with AM, FM, satellite radio, a CD player, and a woman who reminds me when it's time to get my oil changed. No, not my wife, Nancy, but some other woman who lives in my dashboard and tells me what to do. And who is always right. Hmmm, maybe she is some relation to Nancy!
When I climb on my John Deere to mow between the rows of trees we planted to reforest the lower field and filter chemical runoff from farms around us, I put on ear protectors to keep out the droning diesel. Underneath the ear protectors, though, I usually slip a set of earbuds. I could go on, but you get the idea. In fact, you may live the idea. My life with sound might mirror yours.
I like my tunes, NPR talk radio, television shows. I also like bird song, urban noise, conversations, overheard conversations (bad!), and more. I fill my life with a fury of sound that signifies something: I just don't know how to be still.
Well, actually, I do. I just avoid it. Even though I know better. Now I'm not talking about the kind of quiet that my