Sometimes, when I am done with a big project, instead of feeling pleased that it was a job well done and that I can now rest, I get upset as I will feel lost.  I feel lost as I do not yet have the next big project to look forward to.  I feel lost because there is this sense that my job is done and I might not be needed anymore.  I was having one of those days yesterday when I saw this quote on a poster.

“Commitment is doing what you said you would do, long after the mood you said it in has left you.”

It is almost as if it is a reminder that if I had responded to God some time ago about my commitment to Him to do His will, to do what He asks of me, then even when there are times of silence in-between, when there is no specific job that He wants me to do, I need to be committed to that response.  Yes, the response to SILENCE.

At this day and age, when we are constantly “doing” something, occupying ourselves with chores, work, hobbies or electronics, it is difficult to understand that those “down” times are equally important. If we are committed to God to do His will, we need to be committed to those “down” times with which He blesses us.  I haven’t been able to quantify the gains during the down times, but that’s probably the whole point: We can’t possibly understand His whole plan.  It is definitely easier to feel useful, to feel one’s self-worth, to have a sense of fulfilment and, possibly, a shot of happiness, while we are working on a project.  Perhaps, silence is the time necessary to allow our internal turmoil to dissipate, allow us to observe our surroundings in a different light, allow us to experience the beauty of the world, allow us to be.  Most importantly, it might just allow us to understand God’s unspoken message.

Saint Catherine Labouré said, “If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that.”

We might need to look at “nothing” as a blessing from God, commit to this silence, and thank God for the gift that we do not yet understand.