Meeting with God in quiet places peaceful

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON

“Come into the quiet

and be gracious with time

and with yourself.

Take off your thoughts,

anxieties, expectations

and lay them aside.

Ease into the silence

and surrender to the stillness ...

Lose yourself in being.”

-- NOEL DAVIS

A few months ago, I had the privilege of easing into the silence

and surrendering to the stillness with a friend of mine named Debbie.

I have known Debbie for more than 20 years, and she and I have

prayed for the many stages and changes we have both gone through over

the years.

I have always admired Debbie, and I was delighted when she invited

me to join her for a time of quiet contemplation and rest at a small

retreat center. We chatted happily in the car on the drive there, and

then went inside for a brief introduction and some instructions.

We learned that one of the goals of the center is to encourage

people to draw into deeper conscious contact with God through the

wonders of creation.

The house and gardens were developed for quiet contemplation,

rest, peace and solitude.

Our leader then encouraged the group to find places in the

beautiful gardens to sit quietly. I chose a comfortable wooden chair

nestled in the shade of a trellis draped by vines.

I sat and read a small paper that included the quote at the top of

this column. I read the quote several times and then closed my eyes.

I prayed for God to help me close my ears and mind to busy

thoughts and to be open to hear from him. I tried to mentally picture

my thoughts, anxieties and expectations as heavy weights that I took

off and laid aside. I don’t often think in terms of being gracious

with time and with myself, but that day I did. The more I sat in

silence, the more comfortable I became with it. It felt as if

thoughts of all the things I could be doing slowly melted away and

were replaced with a gentle sense of simply being. My busy mind took

second place to a peaceful soul.

The gentle breeze that played with my hair and face felt like

gentle kisses from God.

After a certain amount of time, our leader invited us back into

the house to share our experiences.

Everybody commented about a calming inner peace. We also chose a

small slip of paper out of a jar and then went around the room and

read out loud the different Bible verses that were printed on each

slip. We were told to insert our name when appropriate so that the

message was personalized to us.

Mine read, “Cindy, I, your God, will exult with joy over you, I

will renew you Cindy by my love; I will dance with shouts of joy for

you as on a day of festival.”

Those words made me smile, because I had indeed felt renewed by

God’s love during my time of quiet in the garden.

On the drive home, Debbie and I spoke about the different ways we

felt refreshed by our time of quiet. I’ve also tried times of

peaceful contemplation in my own back yard. Getting away to beautiful

sanctuaries is certainly a gift, but I also realize that God offers

to meet us whenever we invite him.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

[email protected] or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive,

Box 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.