☁️ Quiet: Just for a moment, let's be still.

Year of Breath Week 3

My kids love watching Loud House, a Nickelodeon¹ cartoon following the adventures of a boy who is one of eleven kids in his family. And you guessed it: Their house is loud.

We only have four children in our home, but I often wonder if my kids resonate with this show because we, too, live in a loud house.

Whatever age or stage your kids are in, I doubt your home is a haven of peace always, either. From toddlers to teenagers, life with kids is loud.

But the din of domestic life isn’t our only soundtrack.

I wonder if there are circles of noise, like the rings on a tree trunk.

Sure, we have the noisy day-to-day realities: Kids shouting, dogs barking, TVs blaring, horns honking. (And some sounds are beautiful — a giggle, a cheer, an I love you.)

But there are other layers of noise pollution, too:

The constant thrum of a world on fire. A cacophony of messages vying for our attention. The stream of discordant directives telling us what to think, buy, and feel.

And then there’s another layer, which, for many of us, is an unrelenting presence we carry within:

The buzzing in our brains to go and do instead of just be. The constant thrum of I should and Why can’t I? becomes radio static inside our bodies.

What are we missing when external and internal static floods our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls? What does it mean to hear God in our actual lives?

This week, we’re exploring quiet in a noisy world with:

• Breath prayers (x3)

• Scripture

• Reflection Prompts

• Playlist

• Further Reading

• Wallpaper

If you join us as a paid subscriber: You can access all the Year of Breath weekly editions, including past weeks and all previous Liturgies for Parents care packages².

If you want to stay a free subscriber: That’s okay, too — thanks for being here! I’ll still send out one care package of prayers each month-ish for everyone without any sort of paywall.

Thanks for being here. This week's theme has given me much to think about, and I hope it will for you, too. Let’s get started.