Be still

I honestly think I might have missed a calling to the contemplative life.

I relish the silence - those times when the grocery store is empty, when the Lakefront path only has a handful of runners or bikers, when my roommates have gone on vacation for the weekend or are out for the evening, when the church isn't quite full before Mass, when I'm bagging produce at Mission OLA when no one else is around, when you get to watch the sunrise over the mountains or lake at a National Park...

Don't get me wrong - I love people and excitement too: Notre Dame football weekends, theaters abuzz waiting for a performance to start, summer festivals and concerts, school playgrounds...these things are all absolutely wonderful.

But there's something so incredibly beautiful and renewing about the silence and stillness. And I find that it's harder and harder to find that in today's society. But that doesn't mean we should stop looking; instead, I think it's a challenge to try harder. For without the silence, how can we hear God? Without being still, how can we possibly settle our mind to be grateful for all God has given to us?

Maybe it's time I actually go on one of those silent retreats my friends keep telling me about...