NaBloPoMo Day 7: The Quietness In The Storm

I have learned in my life... After standing in storms, is to find the place of peace. To center my spirit in the midst of chaos. Some chaos can be invigorating and inspiring. Causing us to reach higher, dig deeper and rise above. And some chaos is hostile, spirit breaking and crippling. I know both kinds of storms all too well and quite recently as yesterday.

The lesson isn't to wish away storms. But to find your centered quietness as the storm swirls about you. To center yourself in grace and allow what is to come thru. Grace is code for blessings. Grace is code for God's got you. I live and breathe knowing I benefit from undeserved grace. Undeserved grace is the human self wrangling with acceptance that God could be just that good. The Divinity in me knows that God is that good all the time and that I am in deed deserving.

I am in a stormy season. As is the country... As is the world. And I can see how hard and challenging it can be to find quietness in the midst of all this noise. We live out loud in our lives. Even those who are introverts can't find refuge from all the rushing about> Everyone is talking, so much talking. Everywhere we turn we are weighed down with war, discourse, family dramas, senseless violence, and reality television and an American election season, the likes we've never seen  before.  

God has put in an escape clause for the modern world. 

Nature. The great outdoors. The big wide sky. Green grass. Flowers that bloom in every season in every climate. Nature. The sheer indulgence of going outside and looking up or looking down or just looking. Seeing beyond the cars, and the hustle and bustle of people. Outside away from TVs and smart phones and all manner of connecting gadgets.

Museums. The great indoors. The Classics. The Contemporaries. The Modern. The abstract. Art that stretches the imagination. Art that centers the soul. Art that demands us to be civilized and refined and calm and eager and open.

Music. The sounds that take us back and move us forward. Music that lays us low and lifts us high. Lullaby's for rest and acid rock for head banging. Jazz for sophistication.  Music of the earth, created by the indigenous peoples of the world. Music that makes you dance and swing and sway. Music that reminds you where you've been and where you're going.

Food. The coming together to eat and to experience universal hospitality. To dig in. To ring the bell for chow! To gather together in prayer and communion. To eat.To prepare and share.

God has given us ways in which to replenish our spirits. To not only wait out the storm, but to provide us with safe passage. To find peace and quiet in the most treacherous of moments.