INWARD DISCIPLINE

SILENCE

 

The practice of removing noise and distraction - including talking - so that I am able to more clearly hear from God.

IDEAS FOR PRACTICE

  • We are addicted to noise - literal sounds, but also just the “noise” of our over-stimulated lives. Practicing a regular discipline of silence helps to free us from that addiction and enables us to be more present, attentive to, and content with God.

  • Decide how often you want to engage this practice. Daily? Weekly? Something else?

  • Decide where and when you will be able to experience true silence. For example, if you are a parent, this will likely need to be before or after your kids are awake.

  • Ideally, you want to be fully present to this practice - sitting somewhere still and completely free of distraction - but even driving in silence occasionally can be transformative.

  • Decide how long you would like to practice silence. You could start with just 5 minutes a day, and work your way up to a half-hour.

  • For an extra challenge, you could consider going on a silent retreat, taking time away (a day, an overnight, several days) in total silence. For a shorter regular practice of silence, as opposed to a silent retreat, the goal is simply to sit in silence with God. Begin by inviting the Holy Spirit’s presence. Don’t try to verbalize prayers in your head or conjure anything. Simply sit in silence. Part of what is challenging about this is we live in such a frenetic, noisy culture. Silence, and stillness, are foreign to us. We feel like we need to do something with God.

  • If you feel uncomfortable - distracted, antsy, overwhelmed by or anxious about the stillness - ask God for help quieting your soul. Read Psalm 91:2 a couple of times before returning to silence: “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” This is what we are aiming for in our silence: the contentedness of just being with God, as opposed to the discontentedness of a nursing child who needs something from mom urgently.

  • When your time is finished, thank God for his presence and reflect on what the experience was like for you. As you practice silence regularly, reflect on how your experience changes over time.