Rain

Earlier this morning I sat in the sanctuary.  I could hear the rain falling on the roof and the sounds of cars cruising on slickened roads by the church.  There I was, surrounded by silence, yet acutely aware of the world around me.  At once I felt alone, apart from everything, and yet intimately part of the wider world.  It was a still moment, the kind that I seek out, but never experience unless I relinquish control of the moment and let the Holy Spirit guide me.  There were theophanies, no manifestations of angles.  Just the children's nativity set before me with all it represents and a feeling that, if only for a moment, I had actually slowed down, been quiet, and lived into the promise and call of Advent.