This winter morning the sky is blank as a sheet of paper. Like a clear space for an author to write, or like a clean new canvas for an artist to paint, and for the rest of us, simply a fresh beginning with unknown and unlimited possibilities. This is a moment of sweet solitude for me, and of quiet thought. What some would call meditation, some would call prayer, and what the old-fashioned books called “reflection.”

There is an old Methodist hymn I remember from my childhood; it begins “Take time to be holy; the world rushes on...” What it means is the practice of taking moments from time to time, stopping in the midst of our cluttered busy lives, putting aside the flurry and busy-ness, with the deliberate intention to just be “in the moment” and beyond circumstance for a while. As we become still for a moment, we begin to become aware of the silent world around us like this quiet morning with its wide-open sky, and we recognize that these too are alive, though without words or visible actions.

Here in this moment I am completely conscious, completely aware of the calm serene sky, the soft silence of the warm room, and the smallest delicate sounds of birds outside the window. I am safe in this tiny space in the blazing, exploding universe, and I am amazed. The very air around me feels almost holy. And in fact, it is.

Although we often forget, whatever else we do with our lives, that all of us are spiritual beings having a human experience in order for our eternal/spiritual self to learn and grow. It is of the utmost importance to the deeper success of our lives, to take time apart from the physical and go within. To “Go into your room and close the door...” as Jesus said, or to step away from the noise and demands of circumstance, to your eternal place of spiritual sanctuary, which can be anywhere or any time, because it’s not a place outside of you; it is a place within you. And spend some time just being quiet with God.

All the worries, challenges and wrongs of the world can manage themselves without your help for a little while. I promise you they can, and they will. They will still be there when you return your attention to them, but you will return to them stronger, calmer, and with a clearer vision. Quite possibly some of them will have improved or even solved themselves without your attention, for Spirit is always working for us when we allow it.

Spending time with God/ Spirit/ the Great Consciousness is a very sound investment, whether you go there to pray, to give thanks, or just to listen. You don’t have to be a saint, a prophet, a hero, or even a “good person” or anybody special to go there. We are all special to the God of the universe, who made us with pure intention and placed its essence in us. This is where the infinite love is, the Infinite Presence, and where answers are given to all of us who listen.