Stillness

After spending almost a full month in the Holy Land, it has become clear that God has blessed our group with some extraordinary experiences.  Today we had one such experience as our group was welcomed into the Grotto of the Nativity, after the Church had closed to the public, for a private holy hour.   Although I have spent several holy hours praying in the Grotto, none of them have been like this.  There was no parade of pilgrims and tourists venerating the spot of Christ's birth, there were no flash bulbs going off, there were no tour guides with booming voices there were only the 27 of us in that holy place.  There was a stillness the pervaded that place, the quietness in which one encounters the Risen Lord.

I couldn't help thinking, however, that the outward stillness was not ultimately important.  Rather, what is most important is that interior quiet where we can hear the gentle whisper of Love Himself.  Even in the midst of pilgrims, cameras and tour guides, one can have an interior stillness that is undisturbed by the flurry of external activity.  Granted, the exterior silence helps, but the more we foster a quiet of the heart the more we encounter Christ in even the most chaotic of situations.

It is not easy and it requires a life-long struggle with patience and trust, but the more we grow in this interior stillness, the more we can hear the quiet invitation of that baby.