In The Inspiring Book, This I Believe: Personal ...

In the inspiring book, This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, Susan Cosio writes, “I believe in a daily walk just to listen.” A chaplain at a medical center, a writer, and a mother of three, Susan Cosio says:

I believe I have to remove myself from the voices that barrage me in order to find my true compass. This includes a daily walk just to listen. The guiding light of my life is the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. In our hectic, noisy world, I have to slow down or withdraw in order to hear it. Prayer, I have discovered, is less about what I say and more about what I hear…

Discerning God’s voice is not so hard when I make time to listen closely. Sometimes I hear it as a sudden insight when I step back from a situation. Other times, it’s a deep sense of my priorities, or a conviction about something I should do or say. I often take a walk with a pencil and notepad in my pocket, and return with notes for a speech or a piece of writing. Later, someone tells me she was moved by the words I’d scribbled on that paper, and I know my prompting came from God.

My pursuit of spiritual truth is not about religion as much as it is about relationship…

I believe in a daily walk to listen because that is when I am close to God, that is when I find my way. And I am most at peace when I tune out the voices of the world long enough to hear the still, small voice of God directing me. “Be still,” Psalm 46 reminds me, “and know that I am God.” [This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, “A Daily Walk Just to Listen,” Susan Cosio, (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), 43-45]