More on Quiet

At my granddaughter's school, Warstler, in Plain Township they tried something a couple of years ago.  It's called mindfulness.

Each morning the children would gather and spend about 10 to 15 minutes in silence.  They could pray, meditate, take a quick nap, or whatever they wanted to do as long as they were quiet.  The principal who is a very upbeat and funny kind of person saw that it was helping the children a lot.  That quiet start to the day got things off right.

However, because they used a gong to signal the start of the quiet and because it reminded some people of Buddhism or other religions not commonly practiced here in the U.S., Mrs. Ditchler canceled mindfulness.

One of our state reps actually wrote the book about mindfulness that got all of this started.  He was doing it himself before the start of each busy day and claimed that it did wonders for him.  There were health benefits too.  And none of this should really be too surprising, because our faith should give us moments of pause, moments to contemplate the absolute wonder of our world.

About eight years ago, there was a brouhaha about fitting creationism into the science curriculum.  There were strong proponents on both sides and passionate ones at that.  It was one of those huge divides in thinking that doesn't come along often when one thinks about the Ohio State Board of Education, a normally very "under the radar" group. 

Those opposed said that there is no scientific basis for creation, but that isn't actually true.  In fact, some scientists studying life have gone from being unbelievers to believers because of what they found.  The more one delves into what makes us tick, the more miraculous it becomes.  We are absolute marvels.  And the last frontier, the one that we are still struggling to understand, is the human brain.

Frankly, I would have liked to see mindfulness continued at Warstler and at all the schools.  Children are exposed to so much noise in their lives that a quiet start to the day is just what they need.  They may find that it makes them feel so much better that they find quiet times on their own. 

Maybe you've seen the ads on TV for a brain exerciser app.  It's some kind of program that helps the brain work better.  And there are books of exercises that promise the same kind of result.  It's another "stage" that we are going through, I imagine.  Another "one thing fixes all" gimmick in a sense.  But it's never just one thing, is it?

Life is a balancing act, I've always thought.  We have to learn to balance our faith life, work life, and play life.  And it's a constant battle.  There isn't stasis in this; we are always growing, changing, and adapting.  So one day maybe we worked too hard, and now we feel lousy and have sore muscles to boot.  The next day we take off and do something else.  But when we consistently go through life out of sync in the balance of faith, work, and play, there is a price to pay for that.

So on these lovely spring days, find a quiet time and practice a little mindfulness of your own.