94. Handful of Quietness
I have always loved the words in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible for Ecclesiastes 4:6 – Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and striving after wind. Years ago I wrote an choir anthem using those words and there were spaces of quiet in the music, just like the verse said.
I’m not sure I’ve totally learned it yet. (But then I’m not sure I’ve totally learned anything yet.) But I do know that when I’ve experienced times of wildly rushing around, times of trying and trying to accomplish something, times of endless going to exhaustion – then is when the quietness is oh so much better, even a handful of it.
We had a wise babysitter once—and older woman. When my four children were all under six and having one of those crazy run-around screaming times, she would get a children’s book and go to the corner of the livingroom and start to softly read. One by one the children left their hyper-activity and sat beside her or leaned upon her—just to hear the quiet story.
One of the beauties of the morning is the stillness. And one of the beauties of stillness is being able to create it yourself, even in the midst of chaos.
