There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet. Without peace and quiet, there is no rest from turmoil. Yet, how to find quiet? Where is peace? So often, the perspective is that I cannot find peace because it is chaotic. Yet, the verse says “without peace and quiet, there is no rest from chaos”. One must find peace and quiet FIRST and then there is relief from the turmoil.
I think of Mother Theresa, in the chaos of Calcutta, an island of peace. I think of Christ, in the boat with the disciples, a storm raging about them, terrifying them. He stands at peace, beckoning Peter out of the boat. And while Peter has a doubting heart, he alone steps out of the boat, leaving his frightened brothers to coward. He knows peace and then the storm around him calms.
Find peace. Find the stillness. It is not an emptying of the mind, but an emptying of YOURSELF. Allowing the Holy Peace to enter. Be quiet. Be still. Speak not. Walk quietly. And in that peace the world calms if but for a brief moment. A glimpse of the quietude of the universe.
Skip from islands of peace. Hop from stones of quiet. Stand still and breathe. Cease racing. Refrain from list-making. Be present for precious moments, slowly making a strand of pearls. For a pearl arises from friction. A diamond from immense pressure, encased and buried by it. And yet, from that pressure forms the strongest of jewels.
Be still. Be quiet. Be present. If for a moment and the turmoil will fall away.