Quiet.

Shhh.

Sit for a few seconds in the peace and quiet.

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There isn’t much that’s quiet about Christmas these days.

The stores open their doors earlier and close later. The music starts after Halloween, and the lights go up soon after.

The parties fill our evenings and the shows take up our weekends, though the pace of activities and celebrations this year is a bit slower for most of us.

For many students, every day in December means studying, testing and writing.

Shhh.

Maybe the first Christmas was quiet, or maybe with all the family gathered together for the census and the animals milling around the manger, it was a rowdy, celebratory bunch.

Perhaps the shepherds were enjoying a peaceful evening when the angel arrived, or maybe the sheep were “baa”-ing so loud it was difficult to concentrate.

Quiet disrupts. It interjects in the noise and changes our pace.

Whether it was true of the first Christmas or not, it is good for us to pause, reflect, be still.

Shhh.

See if you can spend a few minutes of quiet, peace, stillness, throughout the next few days. Remember why we wait for December 25 and what we celebrate.