In this age with the advent of
several electronic social media we may find ourselves overwhelm by informational
chatter. Navigating our way towards spiritual growth amongst the deluge of
opportunities to connect emotionally within the context of this media may be
difficult and problematic because it can inhibit the growth of our ability to
"be still and confess that I am God." [Psalm 46:11]
Pope Benedict XVI noted "we live in a society in
which every space, every moment must be 'filled' with initiatives, activities,
sounds. Often there is not even time to listen or to converse. Dear brothers and
sisters, let us not be afraid to create silence inside and outside ourselves if
we wish to be capable not only of hearing the voice of God, but also the voice
of those near us, the voice of our fellow man". [Address in Abruzzo on July 6,
2010] How can we generate silence?
There are several questions that arise when we
contemplate silence and spiritual growth. The first is what do we mean when we
speak about silence? The second is why is an attitude of silence necessary for
spiritual growth? The third is what techniques or practices help us engender the
interior stillness that allows us to hear and listen to God?
The silence that we speak of here is that state of
interior stillness that is a profound attitude of the soul which seeks
everything from God and is entirely turned towards Him. It is not linked
essentially to any bodily position and even less does it concern a sensible
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. God speaks in silence, and silence alone seems
able to express Him. Participation in the divine life through grace brings us
under the law of divine silence. "It is in silence," says St. John of the Cross,
"that the divine Word, which in us is grace, makes Himself heard and is
received." We humans need and crave interior silence. It is described as more
than simply the absence of noise or as the absence of external circumstances
that foster opportunities for a much-needed respite. A peaceful setting and the
absence of noise set up the conditions for interior silence, but they do not
create it. At best, external silence serves as a facilitating condition for the
deeper, more valuable experience of interior silence. Internal silence is an
extraordinary gift. The heart's desire is for the Eternal, a level of silence
that is penetrating in its power to draw forth the secret communication of the
soul. It is in this sense that we discover that silence speaks and that we learn
how poor we are when we do not abide in this dimension. In this great silence,
our being finds its roots in God, is nurtured inwardly, and gradually expands
into a form of life that is itself eternal. Baptism works a marvelous creation
in the soul of the person receiving baptism. A new life is given it, a life
which will permit it to perform divine acts as an adopted child of God. We hear
the words of the priest, "I baptize you etc.; we see the water flow over the
forehead of the infant; but, of the creation of grace, which requires nothing
less than the personal and omnipotent action of God, we have perceived nothing.
God has spoken His word in the soul in silence. And it is in the same silent
darkness that the further developments of grace ordinarily take place.
The answer to our second question may be
becoming expressed in our answer to the first question. When we note that it
is in the same silent stillness that the developments of grace ordinarily
take place. "We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and
restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers,
grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move
in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." [Blessed Mother
Teresa] Genuine interior silence, which St. John of the Cross speaks of so
well, has in Christ its true source and goal. It is the fruit of living
faith and of charity. It is abandonment to God and dependence upon Him and
is, in itself, distinct and separate from our feelings and from what we may
think of as extraordinary or profound. Jesus tells to seek solitude when we
pray: "But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to
your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."
[Matthew 6:6] The solitude which Jesus speaks of is the inner stillness
which allows the Holy Spirit access to the deep place in our soul. All too
often when we settle down to pray our minds become filled with random
thoughts or concerns that gravely hinder, even cancel entirely, our ability
to listen to God's word in our souls. Interior silence is essential for deep
prayer of any kind, and until we can foster interior solitude we will be
unable to experience Christ in a deep and personal manner. "Be quiet and
sober, that you may be able to pray." [1 Peter 4:7] We will not simply have
difficulty praying without silence, we will not be able to pray properly at
all. Interior silence seeks the deep center of the soul, in its most
spiritual depth, here is where God dwells and carries on the mysterious
operations of His union with us. An attitude of silence is necessary for
spiritual growth because the grace needed to grow spiritually is infused and
operates in silence.
How can we foster, engender and allow interior
silence? The starting point is having a proper attitude and understanding of
silence. We in our culture seek to avoid the silent and empty moments. This
reluctance for mysterious unfathomable realities causes us to judge silence
from a negative place. We need to be aware that movement into the state of
silence may seem like wasting time when we judge the effect using our human
senses. We should not be trying to measure our progress. In fact trying to
measure the effect of time spent in silence recollection is prone to lead to
discouragement because the realm of the spirit is dark as St. John of the
Cross notes; in this darkness faith alone - which is dark also - should be
the light we use. neither our vision nor our intellect) We sometimes
associate negative aspects of darkness with silence. This often leads us to
rely on interior imagining and exterior silence as we try to focus ourselves
on God. This however, doesn't always work, because the real noise is in us.
It is our own thoughts and distracting imaginings, even the sinful
imaginings we most avidly avoid, that are the main cause of that noise and
unrest we experience during prayer. God speaks readily when our souls are
silent. He cannot be heard in the noise of the world. But we do not have to
abandon our normal way of life in order to encourage a little interior
solitude. It is enough to pause for a moment and remember God's presence.
Once we have formed the habit of doing this, it becomes quite easy at any
time and in any place. We may be walking along the street or in the middle
of our work. We may be in a room full of people chatting together. Wherever
we are, we should be able to pause and raise our minds to God. If we acquire
this habit, we will invite into our lives an event that occurs on a
completely supernatural level of interior stillness. We should not cast
aside the natural gifts of intellect, free will, and personal dignity which
God has given us in our attempt to encourage an awareness of our need for
interior silence. Building the habit of prayer in the presence of God we
will be nourished by divine grace and we will find its external expression
in good works.
Another source for growth of interior silence is
the Liturgy of the Church. Liturgy trains us to hear the voice of God, by
creating in us the interior disposition in which that voice can be heard in
the soul. For God's voice is not loud and obvious, but is more like a subtle
whisper as Elijah discovered: Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the
mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and
violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD-but
the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake-but the LORD was
not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire-but the LORD was not in
the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound When he heard this, Elijah
hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the
cave. [1Kings 19:11-13.] The point of the words and music of the liturgy is
to create the silence in which we hear God. Liturgy helps us develop the art
of listening throughout our lives. For we hear God only in the spaces
between the louder passions, in subtle and shy whispers. Thus it is much
easier to summon up in ourselves interior silence in the Church in front of
the altar. To attain interior silence, proper steps need to be taken.
Training in this area is often slow and difficult because it involves
liberating us from certain of our internal inclinations and from the
constant distractions of the world. What we need most in order to make
progress is to be silent before this great God with our appetite and with
our tongue, for the language he best hears is silent love. [St John of the
Cross, OCD]
