“Let a person sit alone in silence . . .” Lamentations 3:28

“The silence holds with its gloved hand the wild hawk of the mind.” R.S. Thomas

When was the last time you were silent? When you chose to listen instead of to speak? When was the last time you experienced silence?  The kind of silence which, after a time begins to unravel you just a bit, and you rush to fill the void with some kind of noise.

It is difficult to experience silence. It is a challenge to remain silent.  In a day and age when the senses are constantly being assaulted by the clang and clamor of a culture which, like a petulant child, is screaming for attention, it is difficult, albeit impossible, to settle into and soak in silence.

But it is not only the externals that are to blame, it is also the internals.  It is what is going on inside of us.  A lack of awareness, serenity, peace with ourselves. We have so acclimated ourselves to not being silent that it is as if our very being insists on being stimulated. 

Silence is elusive.  And when it does make its appearance, we are wont to disengage from or dispel it as an unwelcome visitor.  But silence is always there, waiting to be welcomed.  It is in silence that we just might meet God most intimately.   Consider the following from Martin Laird.

Followers of the Christian path have been singing the song of silence for centuries.  In his Confessions St Augustine goes so far as to say that the discovery of the various levels of silence is what it means to “Enter into the joy of the Lord (Mt. 25:21). St. John Climacus says, “The friend of silence comes close to God.”  Meister Eckhart says, “The noblest attainment in this life is to be silent and let God work and speak within.” John o the Cross says, “The Father spoke one Word, which was His son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence, and in silence must It be heard by the soul.”  In the Cherubinic Wanderer Angela Silesius says, “God far exceeds all words that we can here express.  In silence he is heard, in silence worshipped best.”[1]

So, dear fellow pilgrim, where and how does silence fit into your sacred journey?  When have you met Your God in silence?  And what was that like?

I would invite you this week to intentionally incorporate the art of silence into your practice.  Find a secret place, whether in your home, out in nature, or maybe even in your car, where you won’t be bothered or distracted by anyone or anything, other than The Spirit.  Sit and soak and allow The Silence to saturate you. And in that silence listen with the ears of your heart to the sweet message that The Divine Lover is whispering to you.

It was like church to me.  I entered it on soft foot,

Breath held like a cap in the hand.

It was quiet.  What God was there made himself felt,

Not listened to, in clean colours that that brought a moistening of the eye,

In movement of the wind over grass.

There were no prayers said.  But stillness of the hearts passions—

That was praise enough; and the mind’s cession of its kingdom.

I walked on, simple and poor, while the air crumbled,

And broke on me generously as bread.[2]

---

[1] Into The Silent Land  by Martin Laird.  P.23

[2] The Moor, by R.S. Thomas.