“Be still, and know that I am God.”[1] The Lord speaks through the Psalmist and beacons us to silence. So, often we are talking, asking, confessing, praising. All are good things, but there is a time for silence. It was through the small still that the Prophet Elijah realized that he stood in God’s presence. I am constantly impressed by the power of silence. While leading behavioral health patients in spirituality group, we often sensed tension, hyper-anxious people who were stressed by past things they could not change, or future concerns they could not control. We discussed the importance of discovering spiritual grounding. Consistently, they found their foundation in the silence of contemplation. Benedict knew the value of silence in the sixth century.
Amid the turmoil of social decay, Benedict offers a framework that included every aspect of communal living. He highlights the importance of silence. Silence creates an external environment of quietness that provides for internal sense of serenity. In the surrounding stillness, the ear of the heart can hear God.
We are inundated with noise. Every electronic device created seems to conspire to clamor for our attention, literally. Phones, iPods, iPads, televisions, sirens, bells, cars, trains, aircraft, and every other electronic device screams for our conscious (and unconscious) thoughts. Noise pollution is deafening. When I travel to India, the sounds are constant and overwhelming. Sensory overload robs one’s time to think, as well as one’s energy. So, Benedict invites us to enter the blessing of silence. We nourish the body and mind with food and study, but how do we intentionally nurture our spirit? In silence, God’s Holy Spirit communes with our spirit and we find grounding in Him. Contemplative prayer is a means for that support.
There are various forms of contemplative prayer. Lectio Divina, speaking the divine, is an ancient form of praying Holy Scripture. another method of contemplation is centering prayer. I invite you to take fifteen minutes and let me take you into a place of silence in this form of prayer. Click on this link and pray with me – https://youtu.be/MZR4cxHANco.
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[1] Psalm 46:10.
