The past couple of months I have been exploring more deeply the disciplines known as solitude and silence. As I mentioned earlier in the blog, being in Slovakia provides a perfect opportunity for God to get my attention in ways not easily accomplished before. There have been much fewer distractions here as I am separated from family and friends as well as everything familiar to me. The language barriers cuts me off from a good percentage of the population and I have no car, which eliminates a huge piece of independence or the freedom to just get up and go somewhere whenever I please. I am working hard at building relationships with people and making significant networking connections but all this takes time to develop. Consequently I have spent an inordinate amount of time just being in my flat reading, writing and learning to be comfortable with silence. Now, there are still plenty of ways to entertain myself here with nonessential activities or allowing endless distractions to be present . I can just hear the ‘married with children’ crowd saying “what you describe as an issue to be dealt with we describe as moments of bliss.” Many of you would kill for a few moments of nothing pressing to do, some extra time on your hands. But is extra time on our hands a guarantee that we will experience a greater degree of peace in our soul? This is where my question takes shape. Is it possible to achieve a true internal peace and contentment despite the circumstances in our lives, whether that is a subdued isolation or constant activities and business? It seems to beg the question, how does one truly come into a place of peace, rest and contentment for the soul?