switching soundtracks

How do we begin to re-orientate ourselves towards God? Perhaps a little dilution is in order - introducing God-words in our lives to dilute world-words. This could be anything - anything that makes us think about God, encourages us to reflect on what it means to follow him. It may simply be changing our background music - think how a soundtrack on a film sets the tone for the moment.

What makes you think about God? What has always helped you in your journey? It may bear no obvious significance for somebody else, but that doesn't matter. We all have our own ways of learning, processing and remembering.

Sometimes we attempt so much of U-turn that we collapse. You can get up at 5am and have a 2 hour "Quiet Time" if that works for you, but for some of us the initial re-training of our thoughts needs to be more gentle. Instead of cluttering my life with trivia and worry, I want to choose to clutter it with reminders of God. To trigger a different train of thought. To switch soundtracks.

To work on my desire to know God - or least my desire to desire. If I can no longer re-capture the longing, I can at least feel the absence of it. That sense of absence is my starting point.

And I want to fill it with reminders of God until the longing itself reawakens, creating space for the Holy Spirit of God to be heard.

"Advent makes us look for God in all those places we have, until now, ignored." - Joan Chittister

Come, Lord Jesus.