Most of us will do anything to avoid sitting alone and quietly confronting our own inner selves, which is why Pascal, the French philosopher, said: “All men’s miseries come from their inability to sit quietly and alone.” The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard put it this way: “Everything which is good in man begins in silence.” But he also said: “Man’s greatest fear is boredom. Boredom is the root of all evil so every moment must be filled with something, some activity, some form of business.”
This battle between our need for silence and our fear of boredom really speaks of our times. Yet over against all this are those timeless words of scripture in which God says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ ‘In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ Do yourself a favour – try it.