The Gift of Silence

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).

In our busy, noisy world, silence can be tough to come by. Even in the precious moments when we’re not inundated with the sounds of everyday life, I’ve noticed that people are uncomfortable with silence. Sometimes there’s that pregnant pause in a group gathering and you know everyone is thinking, ”Somebody say something!” People start to fidget and you can see the discomfort on their faces and in their body language.

Given today’s economic situation and the added stresses that people have on them because of it, I believe it’s all the more important to carve out that time to just detach from the noisy world we live in, and to let the Lord bathe us in blessed silence. And we have a good example for that. The Gospels tell us that Jesus would withdraw to deserted places to pray (Lk. 5:16), to commune with the Father, to recharge the batteries, so that He could continue His mission of salvation.

A group of my women friends went on retreat this past weekend, and I can tell from seeing them since then that the time they spent in quiet and prayer did them much good. It’s feeding my desire all the more for my own annual retreat in Colorado at the end of May (T-minus 70 days and counting!). I will be going to a different place this year - a tiny farming town in southeastern Colorado filled with melon and alfalfa fields. I’ve only seen pictures of it, but I’m looking forward to being there, to shutting off my Blackberry and my laptop, and getting away from the noise of the TV, the traffic and the neighborhood leaf blowers, to just spend the time listening to the voice of the One I know loves me without reservation.

Our God is a God of peace, the peace that comes when we allow ourselves to be stripped of all the extraneous junk in our lives. Jen observed in her post yesterday how more and people are turning to prayer and to the support of their faith communities, etc., in the midst of the current economic crisis – and with good reason. The problems are bigger than any of us, and only God can help us to see our way through the struggles we’re facing. Acknowledging that we can’t go it alone is healthy. St. Paul wrote, “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me” (2 Cor. 12:9). I have heard it said that the position of greatest power is on one’s knees. That power is found in deserted places of the soul.

The promise that God made to King Solomon is as relevant today as it was in Old Testament times: and if My people, upon whom My name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek My presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land (2 Chr. 7:14). My prayer is that all of us will make time to pull way, to go off alone with the Lord, be it for a few days or a few minutes. Christ entered our world 2000 years ago on a quiet night in an obscure town called Bethlehem. He is waiting to enter our world again, through the door of every heart that will open itself to His presence, and come before Him in silence.