Quiet.

The blog site says I last "posted" in early April. So it's been awhile. I meant to write something while we were in Florida the last eight days, but somehow I didn't get around to it.

I think it's okay that I have been quiet.

Sometimes -and I know this sounds funny coming from someone who works with words for a living, and who loves to read books- there are too many words. In this era of 24/7 news channels we say too much. We wear words out. We've lost the art of filtering our thoughts, and if it is "in there" we somehow think the world needs to know every last detail of what just popped into our heads.

There are times when I get quiet, and people around me get nervous. "What's wrong with you?" they ask with a puzzled smile. "Nothing," I say. "I'm just tired of talking." (As I write that I think of the character in "Forrest Gump" who talks and talks about shrimp...unless he just runs out of wind.)

Actually, I've been soaking up a lot of quiet in Florida. Stayed away -pretty much- from the tv and radio and CD player. Spent time stretched out beneath the sun reading...or on the beach...walking. Listening to the waves. Catching the sound the palm leaves make, at night, when the wind catches them and makes it sound like there is a light rain falling.

"Be still," Psalm 46:10 says, "and know that I am God."

Believe it or not, this particular verse is one of my favorites.

Sometimes being quiet is just the right thing, you know?