“For God alone my soul in silence waits; from him comes my salvation.” Psalm 62:1

The Christmas holidays had just ended, the New Year was past, and we all survived the end of the last Mayan epoch to live another day. As I made my way to my Spiritual Director’s office in late January and considered what we might discuss to guide and nurture my spiritual well-being, I became very aware of just how disconnected I felt with the deeply internal presence of God that dwells within all of us. The outcome of my spiritual direction meeting revealed my intuitions were true, and my Spiritual Director gave me some “homework:” spend some quiet time in the presence of God; some quiet prayerful time that allows your spirit to connect with the deepest feelings of your heart, the very presence of the Holy. I have been practicing silent meditation and prayer for years, in fact, during March I am scheduled to participate in a silent retreat at a monastery in New York. But some of the best lessons we learn are simply the rediscovery of what we thought we already knew…and continuously try to practice. Excuses always seem to be endless, but I felt the busyness of the Advent and Christmas holidays and the subsequent celebration of the New Year pulled me away from my silent practice of prayer. Much as the practice of following a good diet or regular exercise can slip away, the practice of quiet and intentional prayer can slowly take a back seat to other seemingly more important matters.

Yesterday was my first day of volunteering as a tutor at a local school. I was assigned to help a wonderful young man with his math homework. This eager young man appeared to know his math quite well, but he was in a rush to finish his work. I found my challenge was more focused on getting him to slow down and thoughtfully apply his knowledge rather than concentrate on helping him learn new concepts. I saw a lot of myself in his eager desire to accomplish what was set before him. My hour with him was wonderful: I hope I was helpful to him, and I know that my experience was uplifting and nourishing to my personal “homework” of spiritual presence. As these winter days slowly make their way toward spring, the vision of the careful work of a spider working out her web continues to come to my mind. The web, while delicate and intricate in its composition, is strong enough to hold its own against the buffeting forces of nature. The delicate and silent work of prayer nourishes our souls as we face the buffeting challenges of this world. As we move through these days of March toward the glorious day of Easter, I pray that we can do more than simply “count our blessings.” I hope we can make the time to quietly sit in the presence of God and intentionally “consider our blessings” and discover that our souls are truly nourished by the deep and abiding presence of the Holy.