Cultivating A Quiet Spirit

more thoughts from The Beauty of a Disciplined Life by Rebecca Gates interspersed with my own notes and quotes I have been pondering.. Your comments of late have paved the way right up to the next chapter on developing an attitude of quietness. I was inwardly thrilled as I read this chapter because it confirmed and affirmed the path God has been leading me down in the past year through His own quiet instruction.

Quiet: free of noise, hushed, calm, unmoving, still, restful, soothing, characterized by tranquility, serene, peaceful.

In order to learn how to be quiet, we need to;

Discover the True Nature of Quietness.
Silence has two interlocking spheres, one inner, the other outer. Inward quietness is foundational to outward quietness. At the same time external quietness is necessary if we want to develop an inner world of quietness. It takes discipline to cultivate the silence of the soul.

“There is always music amongst the trees of the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.” Minnie Aumonier

Apart from the cultivation of inner quietness, it is difficult to maintain order and quietness in our external lives for any length of time. We live under the “tyranny of the urgent”, where the quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit are overwhelmed by our hectic lifestyles and the demands of others on our time. All too often we attempt to bring order to our worlds by trying to manipulate external activities. Unless alterations to our outer worlds are prompted by order in our inner lives, the effects will be temporary at best.

Discern the Need for Quiet.
Why do we need it? Through stillness and reflection we learn to know God.

“Thou hast created us for Thyself and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.” Augustine of Hippo.

Cultivating inner and outer quietness is consistent with righteous living. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.” Isa 32:17 A quiet life demonstrates to others the result of godly and holy living (1 Tim 2:3) Life lived quietly from the inside out gives support and credence to the faith we possess.

“The good and the wise lead quiet lives.” Euripides

Discipline Our Lives for Quietness.
It is not enough to know why we need quiet. It is not enough to wish our lives were more orderly and quiet. We need to discipline ourselves, our time, our environments, and our lifestyles to be conducive to inner and outer tranquility. First decide whether or not quietness is a priority. It does not matter that someone we admire makes a priority of quietness. It does not matter that we think quietness ought to be more important to us.

In quiet moments when you let yourself think about it, you recognize what is critically important in your life and what isn’t. Don’t let that which is good crowd out those that are essential.” Richard G. Scott

We must firmly establish quietness as a personal priority. Only then will we be able to put aside the secondary matters that interfere with our higher priorities. Attaining a spirit of quietness involves self discipline. If solitude and silence are truly important to us, our lifestyles will be affected and changed. We will find ourselves saying no to more trivial pursuits. The pace of our lives will probably slow down. Some of the strain and stress of a hurried life will be relieved. And our ordered lives will be a confession of the beauty of the peace of God that passes human understanding.