I had one of the most profound spiritual experiences of my life about 15 years ago in New Orleans. I know what you’re thinking and no it was not on bourbon street. For years my family had been going to New Orleans, having grown up there and with family still living in the area. We did many of the same things each time we went and one of those was visiting St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson square near the French Quarter. It is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the country.

Growing up in a lively Baptist church where rarely were there large moments of silence, going into a Catholic cathedral where no one said a word was a stark contrast to what I was used to. This had been a place that I’d been before but this one time was different. I experienced an overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit in that place in the still and quiet of the cathedral. I remember just sitting there and the spirit speaking to me in that moment: “you can still experience me without music, songs, and preaching”. It’s an experience I’ll never forget and reminds me of what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes Chapter 5:1-2. “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”

It’s not that there's anything wrong with our music, the songs we sing, or the voice of a preacher giving a sermon. It’s the realization that to hear God’s voice we often need a quiet secluded place where we can truly stop and listen and simply be amazed in his presence. My prayer today is that you are encouraged to do the same. Turn down the noise and listen for the still small voice of God; the encounter may surprise you.