Seek out Silence

I cannot hear Your voice

For all the chaos that surrounds me.

Lord, I long to seek out silence

To hear You with such clarity.

Voices all around me

Try to dictate every thought,

Every action, every decision.

Silence! Silence! I beg.

Let me hear my God instead.

Quiet now, hush, be still

And let Spirit pervade my mind.

Let the silence of the stillness,

With the gravity of time,

Move me where You will.

Oh, but for a moment in utter solitude

To seek Thy face at last!

Stretch out Thy hand, O God,

And to it I'll hold fast.

Suddenly, so suddenly, the din –

It ceases now – all becomes silent,

And for a moment, all is clear.

Torn no more, neither left nor right,

But forward upon the Narrow.

I heed no more the tumult without,

But the Spirit Who breathes life

Into my very soul.

Stay, stay, but a little while longer,

Before venturing out once more.

For life is full of raging storms

And dictates strife and war.

Carey Nofziger

17 February 2007