Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

"Quiet, Please!" by Sam E. Stone, Editor—October 20, 1991

Christian Standard

"God is still God. In [quiet] times we can realize this. We need quiet time with the Father.

"Jesus demonstrated this.... As individuals and as a Christian community, we need to find that 'place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God.'

"But do we? ...

"Some have found a way.

"One man in our church gets up about 4:30 a.m. to have time to read his Bible for an hour before he goes in to work.

"Parents with small children have found that [after] the youngsters are in bed ... the house [is] quiet and the spirit prepared for communion with the Lord.

"Others use commuting time for prayer and meditation....

"But many don't do any of these things. If you ask them, they might reply, 'It would be good, but I Just don't have time.'

"The answer, of course, is that we must make time. Perhaps we need to unplug the TV, ... skip lunch, hang up the telephone, or shorten our coffee break. The time is there. We just have to claim it.... 'Redeeming the time' is how Paul described the process....

"After spending time alone with God, we can go back to face the pressures of life. The inner peace of Christ sustains us (Philippians 4:7). Then we can sing with John Greenleaf Whittier,

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace."

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