Silence = Freedom

Sister, Brother: you are welcome here!

Today at the monastery we are in the third day of our "Contemplative Days". This is something we do five times a year and each one of them is three days long. These days are different from retreat - we do that twice a year, once together here at the monastery in early January, and then once separately at some other retreat house at whatever time of year works for the monk making the retreat. These are eight days long and no work or ministry goes on.

But the Contemplative Days are different. We do slow down a great deal. No formal ministry and no meetings. We are in total silence twenty-four hours a day, we are focused on the more contemplative aspect of our vocations: reading, silent prayer, etc. But we do engage in hospitality for no more than fifteen guests. They are also in silence and seem to revel in it as much as we do.

And what is that reveling all about? Well, ask any monk and he will probably give you his own take on the reveling, but for me, it is all about freedom and liberation. When St. Benedict wrote his Rule for monks he highly recommended silence. For example: "Monks should diligently cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night." (Rule of Benedict: 42:1). So that is what gives us the tradition of the Greater Silence, which begins after Compline (the last Office of the night) and continues until breakfast is finished. That gives us about twelve hours of silence per day. But at different times of the year we like to add to that silence as per the beginning of the verse I just quoted, so that we have it "at all times."

This admonition for silence that Benedict gave us is steeped in Scripture. In various places throughout the Rule, when referring to silence, Benedict is quoting the Psalms, Proverbs, and various sections of the New Testament as well. He knows that we need silence to avoid sin: "when words are many, transgression is not lacking..." (Prov 10:19), and as an example that God gives us when we do sin: "These things you have done and I have been silent..." (Ps 50:21). But most of all, Benedict sees the implications of silence found throughout Scripture as a way to cultivate inner peace.

Just think about how noisy our world is as compared to Benedict's, who lived from c. 480 - c. 550. And yet, even back then, in the waning days of the Roman Empire, Benedict was quite clear that silence was essential. He had only people's chattering to deal with. We have that, plus televisions, cell phones, computers, radios, all kinds of devices that make noise (either aural or visual), incessant advertising everywhere we go, very loud music and televisions playing at the same time in every public place. We need a break.

We know we need that break and God knows it. Thus, the reveling in silence. This silence allows us to, first of all, get back in touch with ourselves, to say nothing of God. When I first came to the monastery, I thought I was coming to "search for God" and indeed I was. But it did not take long for me to discover that in order to search for God, we must first find ourselves. Silence is a big help in that area.

All that noise that we make, that others make, or that is the white noise under-girding our lives, is often just a way to help us lose ourselves. We are so often frightened of what is really in our hearts or on our minds that we just want to drown it out with noise, lots of noise. But the first thing we have to do, if we wish to search for God, is to know who it is that is doing the searching - with all our weakness, fear, anger, sin, strength, hope, joy, and love - all of who we are are. Because in some ways, coming home to ourselves, is coming home to God. This is the contemplative life in action, if you will. In order to go more deeply into ourselves, we must spend some time in silence. Liberation, freedom, is being open to coming home to ourself, whatever that self is. God loves us and the more we know our self, the more we can let God love our whole self. That is freedom.

Now I know, having lived "in the world" for a long time before I came to the monastery, that finding even five minutes of silence can be nearly impossible for many people. Family life, work, ministry, commuting, errands, do not lend themselves to silence. But here is my plea to each of you, because in God's tender compassion, God has communicated in so many ways that we are worth it: find a way to take five minutes for yourself in total silence. I have an old friend who when she had kids at home used to do this in the bathroom and she said it changed her life. Five minutes in the bathroom, attic, basement, backyard, front steps, a walk around the block, wherever - five minutes of total silence in which you simply come home to yourself. Try it and keep on trying it and I'll develop next steps in future entries. Try it, because of...

How great our God is.
Give thanks
Peace be upon you