Embracing Silence and Solitude
Lord, as we enter the fifth week of our Lenten journey, guide us on the path that leads to you. Fill our hearts with gratitude, patience, strength and peace. Help us to grow closer to you this Lent through the practice of silence and solitude. In your name we pray, Amen.
Not all are called to be hermits, but all need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally. -Thomas Merton
BREAKING THE ICE
Would you rather have a quiet dinner with a few friends, or party with 100 friends?
REFLECTION
We all have a relationship with silence, whether we’ve thought about it or not. Some of us enjoy silence. Some of us wish we had more silence in our lives. Silence makes some of us uncomfortable. We feel the need to fill our time with “noise” - whether literal or metaphorical. Moreover, some of us have been unjustly silenced. How do you feel when there is a silent pause in a conversation? Does it depend on who you’re with?
Many churches will celebrate Palm Sunday this coming Sunday, but it is also Passion Sunday, when we remember the final period of Jesus’ life, the period of suffering leading to death (the English word "passion" is derived from the Latin word "passio," which comes from the verb "patior," “to suffer, endure, bear”). In contrast to the loud praises of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the passion story is much quieter and more somber. The excerpts from our text today show how silence played a key role in Jesus’ last days, and how it can help us tune into God’s will for our lives.
Jesus intentionally takes time away from all the busyness of the Passover holiday and tense conversations with his disciples (see John 14:1-31) to be in quiet prayer with God. This is a common practice of Jesus, we might even say a spiritual discipline, throughout the gospels (see references below). In this quiet time, Jesus asks God that, if possible, could he be spared the suffering that is to come but then turns it back over to God, “yet not what I want, but what you want” (Mark 14:36). It is in creating the space and silence to listen for God’s will that Jesus hears and finds it. The same is true for us. In order to truly listen to God’s will, we must practice being quiet.
Contrast Jesus’ approach to silence with that of his disciples. Jesus takes a few disciples to Gethsemane and asks them to stay awake and keep watch while he prays. However, every time he returns to them, he only finds them sleeping. How often do we tune out or turn our brains off when faced with scary and sad situations? How often does silence make us uncomfortable? Instead of using that quiet time away from the other disciples to pray or simply keep watch as asked, they avoid the deafening silence of what’s being asked by Jesus – by falling asleep!
Just moments before, Jesus had predicted his disciples would desert him. Peter and all the others were quick to say they would not leave Jesus. They were quick to defend themselves. But words and actions do not always match up. Right afterwards, they did begin to desert Jesus, by falling asleep when he asked them to stay awake.
What if, instead of trying to defend themselves, the disciples had just listened to Jesus? What if they had stayed quiet and let their actions do the talking and had actually stayed awake when they were asked instead of just saying they would?
In similar fashion, sometimes we talk too much – as a way of defending ourselves or trying to convince ourselves and others that everything is going to be okay. Practicing silence as a discipline can help us be more in tune with ourselves and with God, so that we don’t feel so pressured to always say the right thing. We can learn to be comfortable with silence in hard situations when there are no easy answers or right things to say.
Silence is not the absence of God’s presence; instead, it gives us the opportunity to tune into ourselves and to what God is saying to us. We can start with just a few minutes a day of intentional silence, building up to more if you want. This week, practice spending a few minutes in silence after reading scripture or praying to listen for God. As you do, try turning off the radio, cell phone, podcast, TV, etc. As we prepare for Holy Week and Easter, how can you create space and silence for God in your daily life?
WRESTLING WITH THE WORD
Read Mark 1:35, Mark 6:30-32, Mark 14:26 - 41
- Throughout the gospels there are instances where Jesus slips out for some solitude and quiet. What circumstances challenged Jesus' ability to practice solitude and silence?
- Is there a difference between being alone and solitude?
- What was Jesus looking for in his time apart? Can something really be learned from spending time alone, from taking time in silence and solitude?
NEXT STEPS
- How often do you currently withdraw to a solitary place?
- Do you find it difficult to find “quiet time?” What are things that can either hinder or encourage this type of quality time?
- Finding a quiet place is not enough. What helps you quiet your mind, heart and soul?
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
I will wait quietly as God alone can save me. I will depend upon the inner peace that God alone gives. I will place my security in God, my rock and my redeemer. I will wait calmly, despite circumstances all around me, I will trust, for God is my strength and my refuge. Amen. (Based on Psalm 62:5-8)