The first feast of the preparation for Lent in the Orthodox tradition is centered on a deep desire, even hunger, for God and for His righteousness. The practice I believe presses this out is fasting. This most certainly means in some ways fasting from food – to allow our hunger for physical nourishment train us in our hunger for God. But there are other ways of fasting as well – what John the apostle wrote of countering the “lust of the eyes”.
The second feast centers on the desire or virtue of humility. The story told is one familiar to most of us and that is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, found in Luke 18:10-14. This is a desire for “the right order of things”, where we acknowledge our rightful place before God and even before other people. I think that one of the spiritual practices that might help us fulfill this desire is the practice of silence.
This passage from the Old Testament describes the position all of earth takes before the Lord.
But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.
Habakkuk 2:20
And then from Revelation 8:1 – this beautiful picture is painted: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour”.
Silence – something we rarely experience. I remember one time in high school I went with some friends to the Smoky Mountains. There, for some reason, I found myself alone – and I sat on the hill against a tree and looked out at this incredible beauty – the mist rising, the blue-gray color of distant mountain, the smell of fresh air. It was glorious. Yet even the beauty didn’t keep me from feeling lonely. But I was transformed just a few minutes later. I noticed the silence. Absolutely no noise of human life – no cars, no talking, no trains in the distance. I didn’t even hear the normal sounds of birds, or leaves rustling, or animals scurrying. It was the most quiet I had ever been around. In that stillness I felt great peace – all high school angst at being alone gone.
How many places are left with that kind of quiet – but I feel like if I could keep faith with that silence, I would know my place. I would not strive to be the smartest, the fastest, the most…(anything).
“In reality, true, good silence always belongs to someone who is willing to let others have his place, and especially the Completely-Other, God. In contrast, external noise characterizes the individual who wants to occupy an over-important place, to strut or to show off, or else who wants to fill his interior emptiness, as is the case in many stores and public facilities, and also particularly in the waiting rooms of some dentists, hairdressers…, where they impose incessant background music on you”.
Internet article – unknown.
In the brief time I have committed to this practice – I have been so aware of just how often I seek place, or recognition or superiority. In conversation with someone who is sharing a story, I am already moving ahead looking for my own story that matches theirs. Now friends, I am not at all encouraging self-analysis or what Leanne Payne called the disease of introspection. I want to be aware of how deeply God is calling me to this, and I can only do that as I listen to Him. His voice exhorts, but it exhorts with the utmost love and patience. Silence is such a gift – one that grants us, as well as those around us – peace and stillness. When we are not distracted by our own noise and can really listen to those we are in conversation with, it is transformative.
“The fruit of silence is prayer…Jesus is always waiting for us in silence. In this silence he listens to us and speaks to our souls…And then we will hear his voice…In this silence, we find a new energy and a real unity” (St. Teresa).
Here are some questions that might help direct this practice if you decide that this is something God is calling you to:
- Do I spend any time in silence each day?
- Do I seek out silence? Or do I fill in any opportunity for quiet time with noise instead?
- Do I turn on music in the car when I could drive in silence for a while?
- Do I speak when words are unnecessary?
- Do I seek that place of deep quiet just sitting in God’s presence?
Perhaps for some of us – silence is not just something we’ve rarely thought about. It can be a trigger for anxiety. It could be that the dread of it is part of our emotional or psychological or even spiritual defenses. So, I ask you to be gentle with yourself, and do what God is calling you to. In any attempt you make to do this, ask Him for His peace and healing word. We are not looking to be heroes in the spiritual arena. Let this be a reminder to you that any practice you are being drawn to should be made out of a sense of what God is calling you to. Remember as well that God is with you, He is in you, and He is forming Christ in you.
Another complementary practice to silence could be finding ways to honor or defer to others, in words or deeds. Especially in our relationship with God, we can find ways to honor Him. We can honor Him as Job did, 21 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:21-22 ESV).
14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. (2Ch 7:14-16).
Holy Father, as we long to express our repentance through humility, may we be quiet, even silent before You. Enlarge our hearts, dear Holy Spirit, that there might be great space there to dwell in the quiet places. Make our silences be a way to deepen humility in us, and may we rightly honor you and others, in the same way Your Son and our Savior Jesus did. Amen.