by Joanne Meehan, youth worker for Keighley Parish

IT may have passed you by that last Thursday was National Quiet Day.

I don’t know if you are able to find a space of peace and quiet but in the busyness of life with technology at our fingertips, work that needs doing now and a fast-paced life noise can seem the norm and having moments of quiet can seem impossible.

Many of the young people I work with tell me how tired they are and then tell me all that is going on in their lives and all the things they are facing. There seems little time to find space for quiet – when everything is switched off and they get chance to have real rest.

The Bible tells us how important it is for all of us to find times of stillness, of rest and of quiet. One such verse is Psalm 46 verse ten that says, "Be still, and know that I am God". We are reminded in other verses that God speaks to us in the quiet. I want to encourage you to take the time to be still and to be quiet. When we have time for quiet we begin to feel restored and in these times of quiet we can encounter who God is and His great love for us.

There is another verse in the Psalms (Psalm 62 verse 1) that says "my soul finds rest in God alone". If you are facing difficulties or uncertainties I want to encourage you to seek God and to seek his rest and his peace despite the circumstances.

Many of the churches across our town open up during the week to give people the space to set time aside, to be refreshed and spend time with God. The Shared Church (on Church Green) is open every Friday for anyone to call in, so if you are in town you would be most welcome to come in and find a place where we pray you will experience God’s peace and rest.