So many lessons learned.

So many yet to learn.

Learning anew as the street’s stillness enveloped me.

As Patrick (the dog) and I took our customary morning stroll, we listened and we heard…

… nothing.

Then a leaf fell from our neighbor’s friendly oak tree

And I heard it land. 

“This…,” I said, speaking into the cloak of silence. “This is what I most need to learn.”

I need to learn quiet.

I need to learn to be alone.

I need to learn to absorb.

I need to learn to both listen AND hear.

I need to learn to BE.

Here – even in the respite of retirement – I still find myself chasing.

Chasing

Going

Doing

Pressing

Striving

Driven to produce

Long after producing ceases to matter.

Lord, help me learn.

Help me learn the fullness of life’s empty places.

Bend my longing toward the richness of no thing.

Allay in me the fear of missing out, 

Replace it with the joy of standing still. 

Remind me again about the story of your prophet Elijah hearing your voice as a gentle whisper… not as an earthquake, or as a fire.

Find me

Greet me 

Pour out your Spirit

Where the hush falls all around.

Abundant blessings;