"I

daily seek a quiet place that's far from trouble and

strife, where I can piece together all the puzzles of my

life. It's there away from TV, and far from the

telephone, that I can fellowship with God, just He and I

alone."

From

"A Quiet Place" by Glenda Fulton Davis.

Ah, for

more quiet places in our lives. They are scarce, aren't

they. Too scarce.

Usually,

I'm not one to make predictions, but I am predicting that

our longing for the quiet places will become more than

longing in the next millennium.

We are far

more than fed up with the noise and congestion that

consumes our day to day lives, aren't we? A revolt is on

the way. A long overdue revolt.

How will

you change your life in the coming century?

Am I

talking New Year's Resolutions in November? Nope. I'm

talking life changes. And if we are going to be prepared,

come Jan. 1, to put change into place, we should start

getting ready now.

I, for one,

am opting for more simplicity. I have not decided yet how

much activity I will have to cut out, if any. Perhaps I

could even accomplish more, activity wise, if the change

takes place on a deeper level.

A deeper

level? Yes, that fellowshipping-with-God level. A real

communing with my Maker state of mind. You know, talking

more with the one who has all the answers, the one who

knows and loves all.

Hard to

believe, isn't it? That He loves all... But He does. He

loves, because He knows. We, with our limited insight,

cannot know all. We are incapable of understanding all

(or sometimes any) of the "whys" that forever

dot our paths.

So, how do

we find more quiet places? How do we simplify?

Personal

questions, aren't they? You must ask yours, and I must

ask mine. Are there some universal answers? Maybe. But

even if the answer is the same in most cases, each

individual must ask the questions in his or her own time,

and own way.

tremendous source of unrest in my life has been my

psychic ability, or sixth sense. Don't gasp. We all have

it, to some degree or another. When that strange

awareness I have is especially keen and I start picking

up on things that I can do nothing about, and, in all

honesty, things that would appear to be none of my

business, I can get pretty bent out of shape.

None of my

business, that is, unless we are all truly in this thing

called life together. Only the one who knows all, and

understands all, has the answers. Right?

So, if we

need more quiet places in our lives, we must make more

quiet places in our hearts. And if we want more

simplicity in our lives, we should start getting rid of

some of the clutter in our minds.

Now, can we

do it alone? Or do we ask for help from the one who knows

all and understands all?

We have

mistakenly decided, in this disgustingly busy world we

have created, that quality time with those we love is

better than quantity. Ah, the lies we believe and spread.

The relationship that does not receive both does not

survive.

Oh, God's

still out there. He still loves us. But we cannot benefit

from that love, from the storehouse of indescribable

wealth he longs to share with us, unless we spend time

with Him. Quality time, and lots of it.

In Paul's

dissertation to the church at Galatia concerning walking

in/by the Spirit, he described the fruits, or gifts, that

are ours when we walk with God. He talked about stuff

like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...

Look around

you. How many folks do you see and hear and interact with

every day that you are certain must be walking with God,

because of these traits?

See what I

mean?

The ever

elusive quiet places may be the key. Let's find them

again, and spend more time there, so we can have a plan

when the next century gets here.

You and I,

and all the world, will be better for the time we spend

in our quiet places getting ready for the revolt that's

coming.

I called my

sister and read this column to her before I e-mailed it

to all the papers. She said, "That column makes it

sound like it's going to be real hard for me to simplify

things; I don't like it." She said I should take out

the part about psychic ability and "simplify"

the message/s herein. I'll let you do that. You can fill

in the blank spot with your own frustrations. We are, as

I said, all in this thing called life together.