The day started out like any other. Up early, guzzling coffee, packing lunches, driving kid number one to school, coming back home, guzzling more coffee, driving kid number two to school then back home again to clean up the house, reply to emails, schedule appointments and return phone calls.
By late morning I realized that we needed a few things from the store so I headed out to run my errands before returning home again.
After doing two loads of laundry and taking a couple of minutes to eat lunch I sat down at my computer and was immediately sucked into conversations happening on Facebook. I flipped back and forth between screens checking to see if the email I was waiting on had come through, scanning an article I had clicked on in the morning, and trying to muster up the energy to edit photos.
I could hear the hum of the dryer in the background accompanied by what my son calls my ‘old lady music’ a.k.a. smooth jazz playing on the TV music channel. I sat there at my kitchen table and was overwhelmed by my complete and utter lack of focus. It was as though my thoughts were all twisted into a knot inside my soul and it was getting pulled tighter and tighter.
Suddenly, I felt as though the walls were closing in on me. Here I sat alone in my home and yet I had this very keen awareness of all of the noise. The noise from social media, the noise from the articles I bookmark but never read, the noise of my inbox pinging every time I got an email, the noise of the dryer that seems to never end.
And all I could think about was that I needed to get away from the noise and I needed to get away from it immediately!
I grabbed my shoes and headed right out the door. And as I walked around my neighborhood I realized that just as the clouds in the sky had parted to make way for beautiful sunshine, so were the clouds in my mind beginning to part.
The fresh air filled my lungs and I began to feel that knot in my soul begin to loosen. As I soaked in the beauty of that unusually warm spring day, I reflected on why I felt such a sudden, almost panicky, desire to flee my home.
I prayed for God to reveal to me what it was that was causing me to feel so befuddled, so unable to focus. And one word sprang instantly to my mind.
Chatter
I think that my overwhelming sense of needing to escape was brought on by the never-ending chatter that I’ve allowed into my life, my mind, my spirit. It feels as though I’m surrounded on all sides by a steady stream of chattering. Social media, emails, phone calls, the radio playing in the car, text messages and the list goes on. Even when I’m all alone, the chatter is there. It doesn’t ever leave me alone.
What I realized as I walked was that what I was craving in that moment was peace and perhaps even a sense of clarity. And because the chatter will never me alone, I have to be willing to leave it.
In Mark 6 we read of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. But just prior to this miraculous event, He and His disciples had spent an extended period of time traveling and teaching before He received word that His beloved John the Baptist had been put to death. Jesus was physically and emotionally exhausted. His disciples were physically and emotionally exhausted. Every moment of every day had been filled with chatter. And when they thought they were finally going to have a moment to hit the pause button, to regroup and debrief, they were met instead with still more chatter, still more pulling at them. “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (Mark 6: 30-32)
Jesus recognized the deep, abiding need for solitude. All the disciples wanted was a chance to collect their thoughts and share with Him what they had accomplished in His name. But as long as there was chatter, as long as there was constant noise, that wasn’t going to happen.
Jesus knew that clarity cannot be found in the midst of chatter.
Clarity doesn’t come when our minds are racing and our hearts are pounding. It comes when our spirits have been quieted.
I don’t think I even realized how desperately I was longing for clarity in certain areas of my life until I stepped outside my door, until I found myself fleeing from the chatter.
And I realized that perhaps, deep in the recesses of my heart, I had known I needed to get away from the chatter long before I raced out the door that day. Perhaps I had enjoyed getting lost in the chatter so that I didn’t have to actually face reality. Perhaps it served as an escape. Perhaps I was even a bit scared of the clarity. The chatter can so often serve as a security blanket, enveloping us and keeping us from having to deal with reality.
Because once we gain clarity in our lives, we are faced with only two choices. We either do something with the newfound awareness, or we don’t.
That day, as I observed the miracle of one season dissolving into another and felt the warmth of the sun on my face, I gained so much more than the satisfaction of knowing that I was burning calories as I walked. I gained much needed clarity. I was able to sense the Lord affirming that the nudgings I had been feeling in my heart were indeed from Him and part of a plan He is setting in motion. I felt Him reminding me of just how very much He loves me. I confessed sin to Him and experienced the overwhelming grace of His forgiveness as though I was experiencing it for the first time.
And I realized just how well He knows me. How He was the one urging me to escape the chatter just as Jesus urged His disciples to seek solitude and rest. He knows that in this world we live in today, solitude is so much harder to find and yet it’s needed more than ever.
So, I want to ask you these questions today.
When was the last time you felt the urge to get away from the ‘chatter’ in your life?
What’s holding you back?
How can I pray for you?
Because, you see, one of the things that I received clarity about as I walked around my neighborhood last week, was that this needs to be a place where we truly do life together. It was affirmed to me that there are those of you who are truly longing for community, for a safe place to share your struggles. For a place to know and be known.
So, let’s talk. I think it’s your turn now. 😉
I’m so glad you met me at the Fence today,
Thankyou Vanessa, for sharing today………….I truly needed to hear that. God bless.
Thank you! Reading your post before beginning my “chatter” filled day, brought me a moment of serenity that I badly needed.
Thank you. This is what I needed today. (Love your blog!)
Amen Sister! You wrote about what so many are experiencing. Listen to the Lord’s promptings and feel the peace.
thanks for sharing I too get lost in the Chatter of life, please pray for me everyday is a struggle.
Hello,
I have never commented here before, as I am not really a big blog reader. But, I am SO pleased and blessed that I read your post today, it really blessed me and reminded me that my relationship with Jesus is more important than any other thing that I have the day to work on. I have many challenges in my life at the moment, both physical, financial and spiritual, and knowing that there are places like your blog that I can come to is such a wonderful thing in the middle of my brand of “chatter”. Thank you SO much for your outreach to me here in my household of one. See you in Heaven!!!
Della 🙂
Your transparency in the midst of “chatter” was enlightening and uplifting. Thank you for the Godly loveliness that is you.
“Be still my soul…” is the phrase I’m trying to connect to. It hangs in my house and I listen to the music – “Be Still my Soul”. Such a challenge. I don’t know why. When I create space for the stillness I am greatly rewarded. Very much still a process. Thank you for the reminder today.
Thank you for this post. Please pray for my parents in their declining health.
Chatter can certainly get the best of us…especially in these times of “instant” … from social media to cell phones…always having to be available and everything needing instant attention….I think we need to roll back and have the only thing instant in our lives be instant coffee…but then again, I prefer fresh brewed!…Great food for thought…the world needs balance…
Thank you for this message and for sharing it as I go forth picturing myself at the fence talking to GOD through you! I, too, have felt the need for clarity. I struggle with loosing people I love. I know that the memories live on but it is difficult. I pray for peace of mind and the desire to be strong. Please continue to share your encouraging words because they have helped me so much!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Vanessa, you did it again! This post is so relevant right now. Lent is a time for quiet reflection and I find I lose focus by listening to the chatter. I am struggling with a family situation and it seems to get my attention so much more frequently than it should. I have to train myself to STOP the noise in my head and tune into the Lord. Thanks for this post!
I don’t watch tv before dinner and rarely turn on the radio, even in the car. My chatter comes from people. Our home is a busy one with people in and out all the time. My phone must ring or ding dozens of time daily. SO. MANY. WORDS. It might surprise you to know we are empty nesters. I can’t think straight when I get so many interruptions. I need quiet…with my Lord, my thoughts and myself. Otherwise it feels like my hair isn’t combed. I would really appreciate some prayers for mental rest. I have a non life threatening cancer surgery tomorrow.
I do know what you mean. I have found that too much tv, even reading can seem to close in. I am lucky in some ways to have hearing aids, I take them out and calm the noise around me. I love to get up early and sit on the lanai with my Bible book readings and the soothing pool water and talk to God and think of my family starting their day. The cat and dog finish sleeping just a few feet away. My husband has Parkinson’s and takes more sleep time, so he can rest in peace and quiet. On the days I don’t have this time I find I have to adjust my attitude to calming down.
Thank you, Vanessa for sharing this! I’ve been feeling this way too, and it’s wonderful to feel refreshed reading your posts!
Blessings,
Sarah Barnard
Thank you Sarah! So glad it was refreshing. <3
My quiet is reading. I can lose track oh all the “noise” when my mind is absorbing a great story. I begin and end each day with books
Thank you Vanessa. I have totally been in this spot before. In fact, after I type this I am going for a walk. Sometimes we need this mini 20-30 minute vacation to get away for a bit to refresh our mind and soul.
Thank you. I needed to read this today.
Thank you for sharing this..I truly needed to read this today and to remember it always. I just happened across your post on Facebook about this and this is my first visit to your blog. Thank you, Vanessa, for sharing this..I truly needed to read this today and to remember it always.