All too often, when I am waiting for something, or doing a simple task, I try to add another activity (reading something, or making notes, etc.). Multitasking may seem to be a virtue in today’s culture, but it cannot profit you spiritually. To properly approach God, requires a right attitude and sense of need, as seen in Psalm 131….

131:1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this
time forth and forevermore. esv

We need to grasp what David here grasps: humility and a sense of need before the Almighty, as well as a turning from anxiousness and the need for control. Calmness of spirit is the sign of one who knows the gracious qualities of the Lord he approaches, as well as child-like trust in His love.

O friends, hope in the Lord in this way….
pdb

UPDATE: Check out an excellent essay related to this post, by Dr Al Mohler entitled “Where Do All the Colors Go at Night?” — Children and the Need for Silence. Here is an excerpt…

One of the most lamentable aspects of modern life is the disappearance of silence. Throughout most of human history, silence has been a part of life. Many individuals lived a significant portion of their lives in silence, working in solitude and untroubled by the intrusion of constant noise.

Historians often point to the Industrial Revolution as a great turning point in the human experience of environmental sound and constant noise. The arrival of the factory and the concentration of human populations in cities bought a transformation that was accompanied by increased noise and the displaced silence. Today, the problem of noise pollution is a matter of concern to many of us, who find our lives frequently interrupted by unwanted sounds and constant noise.

Our culture now assumes noise and the constant availability of music, electronic chatter, and entertainment. In many homes, there is virtually no silence — at least during waking hours. In some homes, family members live in isolated environments of independent sound, with iPods, televisions, radios, and any number of other technologies providing a customized experience of noise.

All this takes a toll upon the soul…. READ THE WHOLE THING