It is not uncommon for us to refer to life today as a “rat race.” While each of you was in school, there were days when you were shuttled to and from school, to music lessons or games, to home, or to church. Many nights I arrived home late at night only to find you all sleeping and had to leave before you got up for school. I saw your mom’s stress as she rushed about getting you ready for school, before she headed off to her college classes. It seems like a blur at times. Yet there were ample times to be able to watch Lord of the Rings enough to memorize the lines, wasn’t there, PRECIOUS?

Though we have been a large, close knit family, we have tried to give you a semblance of privacy. We all need time alone to think and ponder life. I say all that because today is one of the days we remember St. Anthony, a wealthy young man (251–356) who gave away his wealth and withdrew to the desert like John the Baptist. His desert experience lasted until age 105! While I do not endorse or find fault with monasticism, God used his solitude to make him into the man He wanted him to be. He chose isolation and yet God exalted him to a position of prominence. The great Emperor Constantine even wrote to him asking for his prayers! He replied to his followers when they praised him about this event: Don’t be surprised that the emperor wrote to me —he’s just a man as I am. But be astounded that God should have written to us and that he has spoke to us by His Son.

As I have said previously, you will be challenged more in this life by distractions than you will be by deception. I encourage each of you to follow Psalm 46:10a: Be still and know that I am God. . . . Time alone is good for you. You must be quiet to “hear” God. Hearing God is not like hearing others. You will find times that you say to yourself, a thought came to mind, but I decided on something else. Or you say when a friend calls you, “I was thinking about you just the other day.” Kids, those were not your thoughts, they were God’s messengers trying to communicate with you or admonish you to pray for that person. But the rat race was loud so you discounted the suggestions. You must be quiet to hear.

You must also be still to focus. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not make you anxious to get the point across. He will simply drop suggestions into your mind and see if you are listening. Be still enough to hear them. The true secret of peace is in John 3:4b–5. As a believer, this scripture should haunt! Why? Because it is the antithesis of the normal prayer pattern of us talking and hoping He is listening: . . . his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. You’ve seen the news when people said “God told me to kill the abortion doctor.” They heard a voice, but it wasn’t God’s. Knowing His voice will help you follow without wondering if the voice you hear is the right one.

If you have not had time alone recently, find a way to make some. You will find your answers when you search for the source of your life challenges, not just a way to fix your present problems. That is a prayer of desperation and as far as I know God has never had to intervene an emergency meeting of the trinity! It is not any different than trying to treat the symptoms of an illness rather than removing the cause of the illness. You have a resource you can rely on. All you have to do is be quiet long enough to hear His voice in whatever form that may take. Communication occurs two ways, right?

Love, Dad