Afraid of the Quiet

Pity the person who is afraid of the quiet.

"It's too quiet in here,"

Sometimes I have heard students say across the years

When they were working silently on a writing assignment or test.

"I focus better when I have music," the complaint goes.

To a teacher, any moment of quiet

In this notoriously multitasking career

Is golden, a treasure to be remembered.

Sometimes in such moments

When the sun streams in just right

As I stand at the back of the room monitoring thinking in progress,

I feel myself lifted above the unending burden of work

And sense my Master Teacher standing near me,

Crowning my weary spirit with His grace.

Those moments when we forget all about the clock--

When we pretend that time doesn't even exist--

Are quiet moments,

Moments of destiny.

And if these moments can find us even at work,

Should we surely not find them in God's House?

--CJW--