Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

I spend a lot of time consuming information and entertainment, from television to news, blogs and books, music and podcasts and NPR. I’ve been following the election and watching the debates, as well. There’s always new information and new culture to absorb. It’s good to keep abreast of what is happening in the world, but sometimes constantly trying to keep up with the latest developments means that I’m never quiet, never really listening to the still small voice within.

Yesterday, however, I spent about six hours on a bus. I was traveling to Connecticut for a church function. The function was quite lovely, but I may have enjoyed the bus trip even more. While we traveled out of Manhattan and then through the hills covered in the fall colors, I read a little and wrote in my notebook, but I refrained from spending much time on my phone or listening to music on my earphones. For the most part I watched the passing countryside outside my window.

Travel is one of the few times I am truly quiet for an extended period of time. I have written about the importance of silence before, and I am often reminded of it. The still small voice only speaks in the silence, whether it’s the voice of God or our own voice.

Making time for silence is essential in our spiritual lives, and even more so now when the world produces so much data and it is available to us anytime. Jesus modeled this kind of solitude and silence. He didn’t have a iPhone, of course, but still he went to the garden to pray, or he went out on a lake. How, in the midst of all this incoming information can we find time to quietly listen?

The other day I went to a combination yoga and debate watching party. We took some time to do yoga, to meditate on what was important to us, and then we watched the debate quietly together, centering ourselves and listening to our breathing whenever we were upset by something a candidate said. I don’t meditate regularly, and this was the first time I had done yoga. It was a good exercise for me. Every time I felt irritated, I would stop and listen to myself and felt calmer and better to able to digest what I was watching.

There are many ways to listen. Maybe it is through communal meditation and yoga or prayer, or maybe it’s just long silent walks or writing in a journal. It could be a practice we can do communally, or perhaps it is something we do individually at home.

The church can be a place for silence, but should keep in mind that there are many ways to create quiet within ourselves, many ways to listen. How are we modeling this behavior in the midst of a busy and noisy world? How are we making space for quiet, time to listen to the spirit in our individual and communal lives?