I woke up with silence on my mind.
I live in silence by no choice of my own.  As luck (and God's grace) would have it, I can change that as necessary (with my hearing aids).  I lost most of my hearing during my work life.  Without my hearing aids, silence (mostly) surrounds me.  As I wake up early, the silence is wonderful.  I use this silent time to try to let God speak to me.  It is amazing how hard this can be, even with physical silence present.  Noise saturates both my external and internal world.
Lent is a time of silence if and when I let it.  During Mass, there are no bells, no alleluia.  "be still, and know that I am God."  How hard is that?  Harder than it seems.  But on occasion, when silence speaks, how awesome it is.
Some of my most intimate connections with God have come during silence.  I am grateful for these moments, and try to practice the  skill of listening during silence.
Silence in my life can also be a source of frustration.  For those around me, my inability to hear them, and for me, having to strain to understand.  Not hearing the beautiful sounds of nature, morning birds, children playing, my dogs snoring.  So I put on my hearing aids, and the sound world returns.
Can I use the audible world work for my in my relationship with God?  Yeah, I think so.  I can listen to people when they are telling me about things that are important in their life.  I can listen to the Word of God,  I can also use my hearing to distract me from doing things.  I am learning to filter what is helpful, and what is distraction.  Part of the long journey.💟

So where do I go from here?
I'm not sure what motivated me to start this blog.  So many things I hear and see  gets my mind to swirl.  The world is getting so complicated.  Maybe I'm just getting older and less flexible.  At the same time, I am working on how to balance everything I see and hear.  There are definitely more things I cannot change than those that I can.  As I hear people talk in every day conversation, I sense I am not alone in this.

I question whether this blog is for me or for what?  As a I thought about this, I remembered an occasion when I was asked whether I was a humble person!  There is no good answer to this question. One answer might be 'no, I'm not humble'.  I suppose that if that were true, then there would be no need for further discussion.  On the other hand if one was to say, 'yes, I'm humble', is that a statement of humility, or boasting about one's humility?

The reason I think about this is that I think I must make a disclaimer here.  Go back to my opening statement, I'm not sure what motivated me to start this blog.  I would like to think that my motivation is not driven by some need for everyone to convinced that anything I say is right or wrong for anyone except me, (and even then I have to evaluate whether it is right even for me).

I came across this recently in my high school catechism class from one of the students.  It knocked my socks off.  She said - (verbatim)
Prayer is like when God is not listening.  It is only a test.  The teacher is always silent during a test.

From the mouths of youth can come amazing insight.  A statement like that forces me to look inward and contemplate humility.  As I was praying this morning (Liturgy of the Hours) I focused on Psalm 51 which reminds me that It is only because God is merciful that I receive mercy.  This is one of many guidelines to help me contemplate humility.
Then in Isaiah 45: 15-25 I see that humility is necessary in order to receive God's grace, God by his omnipotence demands unconditional reverence.  A good parent is a good parent not because of pride, but because of necessity.  God does not require reverence out of pride, but out of love.
In the Psalm prayer for today I see that Jesus by contrast is the epitome of humility;  "Father, he who knew no sin  was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship".

Messages like these help me to work my way through all the muck and mire of the world around us.  I have come to believe that the more I trust in God, the more guidance I will receive.  I hope you all have a blessed day.

Good morning!  Welcome to my new blog.  I hope to share experiences that some of you may relate to.  My life has had many twists and turns, and where I am now, is a blessing.

A quick background on the blog title.

Several years ago, I came to a crossroad in deciding what I wanted to do with my spiritual life.  I faced a disappointment in my journey with my faith.  At that time I felt I had but two choices.  One was to turn away from God and only worry about my corporal life, and the other choice was to ask God "what do you want me to do"?

The answer came almost instantly.  I realized (thankfully) that walking away was not the answer, too easy.  At that point I envisioned getting on a yellow bus and going where it took me.  I envisioned God as the Driver, and the director of the journey.  Since then, I have gotten on the bus, and delivered to various tasks that the "Driver" directed me to.

Often when I stepped  off the bus, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, or for how long I was supposed to stay at that stop.  Sometimes, the bus pulled up and the Driver said 'get on, your work is done here'.  Sometimes I didn't feel that my work was done, but I obeyed.  Sometimes before getting on the bus I had to pray about leaving that destination.  I have come to realize that the Driver knows best.

My journey on God's yellow bus is what I need to follow, and the journey has been rewarding, and challenging.  I know that if I trust the Driver, my assignment will be okay.

As this blog continues, I hope to pass on insights and experiences that you readers find helpful in your journey through life.  I pray for your fruitful and meaningful experiences.