A friend of mine—actually a very good friend of mine—just told me, “This may be the right time for you to go to the desert.” I must have looked back rather blankly, and when he realized I hadn’t gotten it, he went on. “You know, like Moses and Elijah, and Jesus, and John the Baptist, and lots of other people who changed the world after they’d been in the desert.”

That sent me back to my Bible, to maps of Palestine and Arabia, and to an ancient cassette tape of a sermon by Brennan Manning. Everything I read and listened to said the same things.

“Stop. Listen. Learn.”

I listen lots. But, like a good American multi-tasker, I usually listen while doing something else. I listen to my iPod while mowing the lawn. I listen to Brenda while reading the paper. I listen to the radio and to my phone while driving on I-4. I listen while…

I learn lots, too. Most of my learning comes from reading and from watching. I don’t learn much from TV, but then I don’t watch much TV either. The newspaper, magazines, books, Bible, the Internet—that’s where I learn while reading.

By watching? I learn a lot while watching people. Some teach me how to do my job better. Some teach me how to maneuver Photoshop CS2 on my computer and make my digital photos presentable. Some teach me how the committee operates, how to control the sprinklers in my lawn, how to photograph a moving child in low light, and how to be a Christian in an uncaring world. My days and nights overflow with learning moments, most of which I miss because I’m busy doing three other things.

So I stopped. “You know, like Moses and Elijah, and Jesus, and John the Baptist, and lots of other people who changed the world after they’d been in the desert.” I doubt that I’ll ever change the world, but stopping has already helped the listening and the learning.

Stopping accomplishes three amazing changes in my life: 1) It turns off the static in my mind; 2) It helps me notice and see what’s right in front of me; and, 3) It gives God clearer access to my choices.

Stopping requires three choices: 1) I will do only one thing at a time and will give that one thing my concentrated attention; 2) I will choose to enjoy the natural world around me; and, 3) I will allow God to re-order my priorities, control my schedule, and lead my thoughts.

As Brennan Manning said on the cassette, “There in the silence of that desert sunrise, I knew God wanted me, and I chose to agree to His offer.”

Dick Duerksen is assistant vice president for mission development at Florida Hospital.