A Different Five Minute Friday: Where Do You Go in the Silence?

Early each Friday morning, I awaken and immediately check my cell phone for the latest prompt from Kate’s Five Minute Friday online community. I also check to see if Andrew’s latest post is up- he is always the first to write, even as he battles terminal cancer. I then begin mulling my ideas from the prompt we have been given.

This morning there is no prompt. I checked Kate’s site and there are no new posts for today. And so my mind begins to wander… is Kate okay? Is Andrew? Did I miss a memo? What has happened to my blogging friends?

Where do YOU go in the silence?

The silence in waiting for the “I am safely home!” text from a loved one who was on the road. The silence in waiting for the test results. The silence when the selection for a career position isn’t yet showing in your email. The silence when an invitation is extended and you have not received a reply.

How often to we go to our worst fears in the silences? How often do our anxious minds wander into all sorts of possibilities we had never even considered before? How often do we begin to assume the worst outcomes are waiting just ahead?

Maybe today is an invitation to choose to travel the path of peace, instead of my usual route to worry or fear.

In the silence, we can turn to the One who already knows the answers and will hold us until we do. In the silence, we can wait for the whisper of God, telling us we are beloved. In the silence, we can feel the embrace of God, assuring us we are treasured. In the silence, we can pray for the ones from whom we hope to hear the good news… the reassuring voice… the answers we need.

Trusting that God goes with us on all of our journeys, we can begin to turn our anxious walks in the silence into more prayerful paths of peace.

*Friends, I just found on the Five Minute Friday Facebook page that she will have a new post next week. Another lesson learned… 🙂