quietness

"in repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and rest is your strength."


quietness is my word for 2012.

what is quietness? not silence because silence is a negative thing. you're silent when you have nothing to say or when there isn't any music on or when the lawnmower next door finally shuts off. silence is absence. quietness is presence. the presence of active waiting, active stillness, active peace. quietness is what is created after silence is carved out. sometimes quietness even has noise in it.

i think that quietness is Spiegel im Spiegel  with a cup of tea and How Green Was My Valley.

quietness is walking with a friend and listening to spring with each other instead of talking.

quietness is turning off the television.

quietness is listening without judgment or fear when you're being criticized.

when you're rejected by people, and you take the time to breathe and understand that it's them, not you - you are quiet. when you have good news that other people don't have, and you keep it inside because that's OK, too, you're quiet.

quiet happens at night when you stop worrying and give your mind permission to fall asleep. quiet happens when you stop letting other people define and identify you, and sit at peace with the identity that Christ has stamped on your forehead. quiet happens when you know who you are.