Brain Charge

I do this activity called a "brain charge" with my students ever so often. I usually end up doing it on days where they trample into the classroom hyped up on Mountain Dew and ambitiously talking about the new "drama" (or so they call it) of the week. The idea for the activity came to me one day last year when it seemed like the world (or more like, my junior high world) constantly screamed white noise at me all day long. It was as if no matter how much I searched for a moment of stillness, my mind continued to rush on, thinking and worrying about a million things a minutes. Looking back, I will admit that my desire to implement the "brain charge" was purely selfish. I just wanted a moment to turn my mind off, to silent the white noise and to simply, be still. I mean, really when you think about it, how often do you turn your mind off ....literally willing it to think or worry about nothing?

"Today we are going to do an activity called a "brain charge," I say as cunningly as possible, trying to make it sound cooler than it actually is. "How often do we quiet our minds, turn off all the drama, gossip, insecurities or worries that we have swirling around in our brains and just, be still?" I ask as I walk over to the lights and turn them off. The kids giggle and fidget in their seats. "Close your eyes, put your head on your desk and be still for 3 minutes."

The first few times we did the activity, it was clear that the students had to try really hard to not talk, laugh or squirm in their seats. Being still was a discipline that they had to practice. However, by the end of the year, they would come into class asking and sometimes even begging for a brain charge. It was a discipline they had grown to appreciate. A discipline they realized that was important in life.

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Yesterday in the dark, crisp morning I fumbled into my car and revved the engine wishing that the car would warm up a little quicker. As I sat there waiting for the windows to clear, I reached for the radio. I will admit to being a lover of loud music as I drive. Yet, as I reached for the radio the words, "brain charge" came to mind and I hesitated to turn on the music. Just be still, Sheila, I thought to myself. Why do you always have to fill the silence with noise? And so I drove to work in complete and utter silence.

It was that silent drive that made me wonder how much I miss by covering it up with noise. How many quiet moments of realization, self discovering, or whatever that I miss because I feel the need to have a loud life. By the end of the drive, I decided to challenge myself to one month of silence. One month of quiet as I drive. Quiet to be still, to find my thoughts, to ponder and reflect on life's precious moments, but mostly, to hear the whispers of God that, so often, the noise covers up. It is true, God is constantly calling after us, it's just that so often our lives are too noisy to hear him.

Perhaps it is said best with this quote,"There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on." -Frederick Faber