Yesterday I was in the presence of a prophet. It is not that i don't have this experience with regularity because I do. Quite often I find myself in the company of those who speak a prophetic word that has the capacity to put me on the right path. But yesterday I was in the presence of Barbara Brown Taylor, author, preacher extraordinaire, professor, prophet. I have read many of her books and also read her occasionally in The Christian Century. It is always a joy to read what she has to say but most often it is how she has the ability to say it that causes my heart to soar.

Yesterday her talk was entitled "The Sacred Art of Stopping". She outlined her perception of where our culture finds itself: multitasking, consumed with productivity, exhausted, undone. There is no down time, no time to connect with our own heartbeat. I am of the opinion that this way of living makes us more vulnerable to those who would plant the seeds of fear and despair in our midst. And it seems as if those seeds are growing mightily these days.

There was a time when our faith communities were the places where people fled at least once a week to stop and remember who they are and whose they are, a time to mark and reclaim our place in Creation. In the Hebrew and Christian traditions this was known as Sabbath time. But as churches have been shaped by the culture, which has always been the case throughout history, we have instead sought to cram a host of things, not only in a given Sunday, but even into a single worship service. There is little time for the sacred art of stopping even in the places meant for sanctuary.

Her prophetic message was timely given this season of Lent. I am reminded that before Jesus headed out for the most difficult leg of his own journey he first headed into the wilderness to pray. He stopped. He spent time alone, presumably in silence, certainly in prayer, accompanied only by wild animals and angels. He wrestled with the demons of temptation. He fasted and removed himself from the distractions of daily life.

Wilderness. Sometimes we choose our wilderness experience and sometimes it chooses us. Almost always the wilderness provides us with the sacred art of stopping. We are led-or forced-to stop our busyness, set aside our to-do lists, and turn away from distractions. We have the opportunity to take our demons of temptation to the mat.

If we are lucky, what follows is silence….blessed silence. And if we are even luckier, in that silence we come to know the One who has been with us through it all, hoping beyond hope to capture our attention.