That old song title spoke a huge truth. Many of us are always moving in this fast paced world, and rarely slow down enough to really rest and tune in to our higher power. In her book, The Seven Whispers, Christina Baldwin says we need to “Slow down and move at the pace of guidance.”
She continues, “Speed is some guy running through the airport shouting into a cell phone. Pace is going around the block with a 3-year-old and noticing everything the child is noticing.”
Parker J. Palmer in his discussions about diving deeply beneath the surface of culture and finding timely, eternal truths said, “You don’t come to God at 180 miles an hour.”
When we move at a pace in sync with the Divine, we have time to question and time to listen for answers. When we move at the pace of guidance, it occurs to us to wonder what plans the Divine might have for us in the midst of the plans we have for ourselves. We take time to process the answer.
Baldwin says speed tends to cancel out our guidance and keeps us out of touch with Spirit. She encourages us to maintain a regular meditative practice and spend time in the silence. We will then hear in the quiet mind what could not be heard in the outer world with its noise and distractions. We learn to listen, and tune into our inner wisdom. In this way, we know that we are never alone in our challenges, God/Source/Divine Love is only a breath, a heartbeat away.
Slowing down, releasing distractions, I open myself to Divine Wisdom and Peace, I rise to a higher level of awareness and attune to the Infinite. I release outer distractions that clutter my mind, and experience absolute Peace and Clarity. I hear the gentle guidance of my inner voice, renewing my sense of purpose. I emerge from these moments certain of what is mine to do.
If you are running at speed in your life, how can you ever expect to hear the voice of Spirit? All you will hear is the constant urgency of the next move, the next text, the next meeting, the next sale. You are focused on the outer world whereby spiritual guidance comes into your inner world. You will not find the whisper of spirit while you are moving too fast.
In the stillness, we find peace, we find love, we find spiritual guidance, we find God. Amen.