Silence is one of those spiritual disciplines that we often take for granted and yet rarely experience it. We have a hard time unplugging from the world we live in and we feel guilty if we are not doing something “meaningful” every moment. I think most of the time we don’t spend time in silence because we are afraid of what we will find there.
Instead of silence, we fill our lives with talk and music and even “white noise” to blot out all of the other sounds. There always seems to be something to interrupt the silence. Now, silence in this sense does not mean absolute quite. In the mornings when I spend time in silence, the furnace cuts on and off and the air cleaner rattles a bit as it is running. No, it is not totally quiet but it is silent in that I have disconnected from the usual noisy world.
The first time I went on a retreat to an abbey, I had some concerns about being in silence. It is a mistaken notion that monks take a vow of silence, trust me they do not. One of the funniest people I know is a monk and has been for almost 50 years. He loves to laugh and has a delightfully twisted sense of humor. And, yet, when I am with this monk, there is a peaceful silence between us.
You see, quieting your very heart is to move into silence. When I am at peace, my heart is in silence. I do this driving to work each morning, praying for all using my prayer rope. The road noise is still there and the orchestral music is softly playing, but it is silent in my soul. I have learned to love silence and I have learned that if I don’t have some once in a while, I the worse for it.
It is okay to sit on your porch and listen to the world as it really is and experience the silence of your soul. You see, when you take away the have tos and the musts of your life, the world becomes a lot quieter. And, when you can finally get past the guilt and shame of your own life, you are in silence with the One who loves you most. Pogo was right, “We have met the enemy and he is us!”
So, let go of the have tos, let go of the self-consciousness and step into the silence of your very soul. It does take some effort and practice, but imagine what even five minutes per day of having a silent soul might do for the health of your soul.
TMM