Inner Silence: Notes on Perelandra

Inner silence is for our race a difficult achievement. There is a chattering part of the mind which continues, until it is corrected, to chatter on even in the holiest of places.

-Perelandra, C.S. Lewis

Do you find if hard to stop the irreverent babble in your mind sometimes? Or to turn down the volume? We always have chatter, which probably means worries, frets, or even to-do lists in our head. Even in church, as we should be focused on the sermon we find ourselves thinking ahead to what we have to do that day.

I like to go to bed when I am completely exhausted, because if I am not, my mind will continue going on and on and on and before I know it an hour has gone by and I am still wide awake.

I read a quote last week that said something about how we do our best thinking and formulating ideas while in the shower. Is it because we are taken away from all other distractions in the shower that our minds can clearly focus on one thing? You cannot bring your cell phone or laptop into the shower. You cannot do chores or make dinner. So, the clearing of your mind happens as you wash away the dirt of the day. Oftentimes I wish I could jot down things in my journal in the shower, words that finally become clear in my head.

Is there somewhere else that offers a mind-clearing mileau for you? Go there. Often.