The modern world, for all its marvels, is simply too noisy for our own good. We cannot think straight with the cacophony of competing values presented by advertisements, the media, politicians, and the people around us. In order to hear the sound of God’s voice, we must turn down the sound of the world.
We must come to a place of stillness within by separating ourselves from the noise outside. Even for an experienced discerner, the movements of the spirits are simply too subtle to detect without quieting down for a little while each day.
It took a cannonball to quiet down Ignatius’s life enough for him to consider an alternative from that of soldier and womanizer. We hope that quieting down ourselves will not require such a drastic event! All we need is a small commitment to pray every day and the internal self-discipline to keep that commitment.
—Excerpted from God’s Voice Within by Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ
Photo by Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash.
