Article April 18, 2011 Issue

Inspired parenting

Mark Swinney

Mark Swinney, a teacher and practitioner of Christian Science from New Mexico, was the guest on this chat. Among other posts, Mark has served as President of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. 

I love having study and prayer time to feel in touch with God, but sometimes now that I have an infant and two little girls, I find myself struggling for time to be quiet and think. 

That can be tough, especially when you have very young kids. The quietness actually can become more of an attitude that you develop. Just because everyone around you is excited, doesn’t mean that you have to be excited. That inner stillness allows you to yield to God’s love, and God’s messages to you. It can be happening all the time. I lived in New York City for a while, and when I would be waiting for the subway in the most packed, crazy crowd, I enjoyed getting that mental stillness, the inner stillness that allowed me to sense God’s presence. Even if you just do it for four or five seconds, that can feed you for the whole day. And so that stillness—it’s natural, it’s a quality you can develop. It’s something you can work on and get better at. 

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