(Adapted from Sister Joan Chittister OSB: Radical Spirit, 12 Ways to Live a Free and Authentic Life)
The silence of the heart, that deep-down awareness of where we are
right now, is our monk’s cell. It is the
place Jesus referred to when he said we should go into our room and shut the
door.[1] It is in that place of honesty that we refresh
our acquaintance, over the months and years, with ourselves and who we really
are. We may learn there what we are
afraid of and what we are resisting. We
hear there the voices we normally block out with seductive noise or busy
activity. It is in silence that we hear
the sounds of our better angels calling us to rise above our lesser selves. It is in silence, beyond words, that it
becomes possible to be truthful, forgiving and compassionate.
Hence, in much of our contemporary culture, silence is very much
the enemy. We don’t know what to do with
it. Also, many live in fear of being
bored or perhaps helpless. Restaurants
and shopping malls and supermarkets are filled with mindless music, while
parties and nightclubs drown any useful thoughts or communication under a tidal
wave of decibels.
A gentle discipline of silence throws us back upon ourselves, unveils
our wounds, and perhaps our untruthfulness. Silence is a healing process – because it is
not possible to pretend all the time. Silence
distances us from our public selves so that we may have more to give to the
rest of our world in the future.
It is not uncommon to hear people who are nervous about silence, when they consider the kind of prayer we do here, call it selfish, or self-indulgent, or label it as unhealthy “introversion”. Well, silence can of course become something else. It can become our private game of escapism. We can come to like and enjoy silence, and try to use it – for instance, to reduce anxiety or lower our blood pressure. We can begin to substitute feeling better for being right. We can withdraw from the real world and call withdrawal a spiritual life. We can use silence to avoid the world, its menaces, and our responsibilities. We can simply dissociate from the people around us and tell ourselves that we have done a holy thing. But if we do, we are misusing silence, debasing its spiritual value, and making ourselves our own god, whom we go inside to worship.
Silence is not for its own sake. It is the silence in which God, who will not shout at us, offers the love and mercy of which Jesus spoke. It is a silence meant to help us -- healed of our anger and fear – to do what we can to see that the world around us becomes more a graceful and peaceful place.
It is not uncommon to hear people who are nervous about silence, when they consider the kind of prayer we do here, call it selfish, or self-indulgent, or label it as unhealthy “introversion”. Well, silence can of course become something else. It can become our private game of escapism. We can come to like and enjoy silence, and try to use it – for instance, to reduce anxiety or lower our blood pressure. We can begin to substitute feeling better for being right. We can withdraw from the real world and call withdrawal a spiritual life. We can use silence to avoid the world, its menaces, and our responsibilities. We can simply dissociate from the people around us and tell ourselves that we have done a holy thing. But if we do, we are misusing silence, debasing its spiritual value, and making ourselves our own god, whom we go inside to worship.
Silence is not for its own sake. It is the silence in which God, who will not shout at us, offers the love and mercy of which Jesus spoke. It is a silence meant to help us -- healed of our anger and fear – to do what we can to see that the world around us becomes more a graceful and peaceful place.
[1]
Matthew 6:6. In Scetis, a brother
went to see Abba Moses and begged him for a word. The old man said, "Go
and sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything." ( Saying From the Desert
Fathers)
No comments:
Post a Comment