The Sound of Silence, part 2

Since the last entry on this "backporch", more than 25 of us have started on this journey into silence - a 30-day exploration of the role of silence in our lives and the role it plays in bringing us closer to God.  We are all at different places in our journeys - although we're all at different places ... some have not yet started, some have just started, or only a few days along on the journey ... and some started over 10 days ago.  AND we're in different places geographically (from Texas to North Carolina to Virginia to Washington D.C. and even some in Queen Anne's and Kent Counties!).

Some of us have been trying to schedule the silence for the same time every day, to be able to use a routine to help us focus. Others have "snatched" the time when we could find it.  Some of us have a special quiet place to go to, others have been walking or others finding that time in the car (without the radio on!) can be a great place for quiet.

So what have we been learning along the way? Last Thursday, some of us gathered to share (or commiserate over!) our journeys into silence.  Here are some of the comments shared and some of the things that were the best, worst, that surprised us the most, and what we wonder about along the way:

• This is hard!  (universally echoed by everyone)
• It's hard to get away from noise.
• I didn't even know how busy I was until I took time to be silent.
• I am making more intentional choices about what I listen to.
• I keep remembering Ecclesiastes: there is a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking (loosely translated!).
• It's not just being without SOUND, it is about not doing what you usually do ... whether it's turning on the tv or radio for background noise, or filling silence with talking, or talking before thinking.
• As my own hearing has started to fail, I have become more aware of the blessing of sound.
• It's more than the absence of sound. It's more than noise; it's the distractions too.
• The best surprise was finding how much I love it, even if I can't do it!
• It's hard to find the time.
• Intentional silence is really different (and difficult!).
• It surprised me that I could be disciplined enough to do it.
• We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves if we don't get it "perfectly."  This is a journey!
• Questions we have we want to keep exploring:
• How do I turn off the distractions in my mind and keep my mind from wandering?
• One of our group suggested thinking about prayer as moving along in a boat, you "notice" things on the shore or in the water, then let them drift on by.  They are past you, you don't have to keep noticing them.  So with distractions in our silence! Notice them, then let them drift on past.
• Others suggested:  deep breathing, visualization (focus on an image in your mind), use a photo of a place that you find peaceful to focus on
• How is silence prayer?
• What is "sheer silence" in prayer?  Is silent prayer an oxymoron?
• How does this help us grow closer to God?

More to come!  Feel free to write comments here with questions you'd like to ask the group.