None

"None" as in a time of day for prayer, not as in nothing, is a favorite of mine in the monastery.  It comes after our communal lunch, and after we have done the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen together.  This time of prayer has become for me a big "stop" sign.  I have been at work all morning, with some talking to coordinate the ranch work, or have been working on some project in my room.  Then there is lunch and dishes.  I have been busy in outward and communal activities.  "None" is the singing of the office that happens about 1:20 PM.  It only lasts about 10 or 12 minutes.  But it is a time to get quiet  again, to fill time with songs of praise, and to begin to reenter into an inner solitude that affects whatever I do in the afternoon.

I think we all get busy as the day goes along and it can become like a freight train that is hard to slow down, much less stop.  How do we find a way to just stop and get into some  interior focus and away from ego, projects, and all the anxieties that have piled up during the day?  Trust, that if you make any effort to stop and walk away for even a few moments, God will do the rest.  Sadly, maybe you don't even think this is a need.  I have found that people like me better, work better with me, and I with them, if I take a break from my outer world of noise and activity.  Oh my gosh!  The world might even survive without you running it for a few moments.