‘The answer comes only when we are silent and listening’
By Jim Hatton
I love putting things together: a new barbecue, furniture, computers. My grandfather taught me many skills for building things, assembling items, and the mechanics of how things work. So I have to thank him, as I have become pretty good at all that.
But sometimes the directions and diagrams that come with a new item just don’t explain it well. So I work at it and work at it, trying to figure it out, and sometimes to no avail. That’s when I walk away and do something else. Then it comes to me: how to fix it or how to solve the problem.
Reportedly, when Albert Einstein was working on a difficult problem, even with other scientists, and they could not find an answer to their challenge, he would go and take a short nap. Then the answer would come to him, and the challenge would be solved.
It does not matter what you might believe about where the “answers” come from. One might say the answers come from God, Source-Energy, subconscious, or somewhere else. The point is that the answers do not come from talking, YouTube, Facebook, or when our minds are full of busy thought. The answer comes only when we are silent and listening.
Listening can be in a dream state, sitting still, contemplative meditation, walking in nature, or any other activity in which one is quiet and listening. This can include prayer. True prayer is not telling God-Source what you want; God-Source already knows that. If one is looking for an answer, one must be quiet.
The answer may come right away or take a long time. It may come as a “still small voice,” or it may come as a picture, a peaceful feeling, or a deep knowingness. It may come after repeated silent sessions. The key is to stop, be silent, and listen. Only then can the answer to the question or the problem arise.
The World is not broken, Be in Peace….
Jim Hatton is an author, spiritual teacher and speaker. He makes his home in the Rogue Valley, Southern Oregon. Contact him at jim@jimhatton.com. Send 600- to 700-word articles on all aspects of inner peace to Richard Carey (rcarey009@gmail.com).
