Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

We have waited in silence on your loving kindness, O God,
   in the midst of your temple. Psalm 48:8

I awake early, before the alarm, and move into my morning routine with a certain amount of confidence. Lately, I have been hitting the snooze button. But this morning, I am up and alert and can get a jump on the day. There is plenty of time for prayer, and journaling, and preparing for the tasks ahead. Perhaps I can even get into the office early.

Because that would be a good use of my time, to squeeze more work into a day. But somehow my prayer is not that efficient, and my writing is a chore, and I feel the minutes slipping by. Rather than using the time to sink into the now, to relax, to seek God, I think of how much I can do or accomplish. And I miss the gift. Of silence. Of being still. Of emptying, instead of filling. Of trusting that my time, this time, all time, is in God’s hands.

I have not waited in silence. I have not opened my heart to the loving kindness of God. I have not remembered that I am in the presence of the holy, in the midst of the temple.

Someday, but apparently not today, I will give up on getting ahead. But for now…I wait.




Copyright Anne E. Kitch 2014