Recently, the topic of silence has really been placed in my heart. For some reason that I just can't grasp, I have felt this pull towards silence. To just be in silence. Even as I'm writing this, I have background music because that's how foreign this concept of silence is!
But seriously (here's where I turn off the music), a true indicator of spiritual health is the ability to be comfortable with silence. And there are a number of reasons why silence can be uncomfortable. In a social setting, an uncomfortable silence indicates that you do not click with the setting. But sometimes pushing through a seemingly initial awkward encounter and discovering the deeper layers of the journey lends great perspective to our lives. Also, if you play it off, silence does not have to be awkward at all - you just have to learn how to control your tone and responses to be an open listener. Silence, when learning about something or someone, is a useful skill to adapt to because it shows that you are truly grasping for understanding. How often in the confusion of our lives do we forget the grace of appreciating a moment of solitude and tranquility as a reflection of God at work in our lives? Or that sometimes silence is required to think independently and appreciate something or someone?
And so I will leave you with some wise words from Audrey Assad:
"You liberate me from my own noise and my own chaos/ from the chains of a lesser law you set me me free / in the silence of the heart you speak / and it is there that I will know you and you will know me"
Silence and mediation in front of the Eucharist is, perhaps, the moment when God enters our spirit and liberates us from sin. He heals our wounds and connects our passion with our reason, our head and heart, so that we can listen to Him and discern His Will.
