In Mark 6, in the middle of a bunch of chaos, Jesus took his disciples to a quiet place. I think I know why. There's a a fifth grade teacher who decided that she would use a listening process with her children. Every morning for five minutes she required them to be totally quite. That's hard for any of us to do, much less a fifth grader. She discovered that a great deal of good came from the experience of silence. After one of these quiet times she asked the students if they had heard anything. One boy said: Yes, I heard something say that I should be more obedient to my parents. Another said: I heard something say that you should always be fair: When you are tagged and nobody sees it your still out.

There is no substitute for listening. And there is no substitute for quiet, in order to hear.