Speak; for Thy servant heareth.” (1 Samuel 3:10)
A few years ago I attended a silent retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky. Friends had asked me, upon hearing that I would be there for several days with no radio, TV, cell phone etc..., and no talking, if I would not find all that silence difficult? Somewhat smugly, I had reminded them that I have lived alone all my adult life. Also, that now in retirement, my days are often free of conversation or any kind of electronic, web or wireless distractions!
Yet, while at the Abbey, I realized I was far from silent. My time there taught me that being in a still, quiet environment and being truly in silence are two very different things. My mind was excited, restless, crowded with noise. It was full of opinions, judgments, conflicts and doubts; my inner chatter. Leaving the noisy world was easy, quieting my “monkey mind” as the Buddha called it, required more than a Trappist monastery.
For some years now I have read much about the discipline of daily ritual meditation in solitude, a time for recollection and attention to the presence of God. The idea of this has had great appeal but I also know how difficult it would be for me to still my mind and body. But I need to allow for a more open heart, an open portal for a greater receptivity to God. I want to better understand His will for me, His words for me.
So in this Lenten season and beyond, I will strive to develop this new practice. I do so with the expectation and hope that it will become as necessary as the air I breathe.
“There is no spiritual life without persistent struggle and interior conflict. Every serious Christian is willing to make a few initial sacrifices. It is not hard to make a good start. But it is hard to continue, to carry on the work begun, and to persevere in it through many years until the end...........We are not ‘converted’ only once in our life but many more times, and this endless series of large and small ‘conversions,’ inner revolutions, leads finally to our transformation in Christ.” Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness
Brooks Sutton
A few years ago I attended a silent retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky. Friends had asked me, upon hearing that I would be there for several days with no radio, TV, cell phone etc..., and no talking, if I would not find all that silence difficult? Somewhat smugly, I had reminded them that I have lived alone all my adult life. Also, that now in retirement, my days are often free of conversation or any kind of electronic, web or wireless distractions!
Yet, while at the Abbey, I realized I was far from silent. My time there taught me that being in a still, quiet environment and being truly in silence are two very different things. My mind was excited, restless, crowded with noise. It was full of opinions, judgments, conflicts and doubts; my inner chatter. Leaving the noisy world was easy, quieting my “monkey mind” as the Buddha called it, required more than a Trappist monastery.
For some years now I have read much about the discipline of daily ritual meditation in solitude, a time for recollection and attention to the presence of God. The idea of this has had great appeal but I also know how difficult it would be for me to still my mind and body. But I need to allow for a more open heart, an open portal for a greater receptivity to God. I want to better understand His will for me, His words for me.
So in this Lenten season and beyond, I will strive to develop this new practice. I do so with the expectation and hope that it will become as necessary as the air I breathe.
“There is no spiritual life without persistent struggle and interior conflict. Every serious Christian is willing to make a few initial sacrifices. It is not hard to make a good start. But it is hard to continue, to carry on the work begun, and to persevere in it through many years until the end...........We are not ‘converted’ only once in our life but many more times, and this endless series of large and small ‘conversions,’ inner revolutions, leads finally to our transformation in Christ.” Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness
HAIKU
LISTENING IN SOUTHERN SHORES
Majesty calls me
Dull deep thunder echoing
On each grain of sand
Brooks Sutton
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