Be still and know that I am God

The spiritual discipline for this week is silence-the prompt goes like this:

Sit in a comfortable place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off potential distractions, like the television and cell phone. This may need to be done after other people (namely children) have gone to bed. Consider lighting a candle.

Take a few deep breaths, and then settle into a regular rhythm of deep breathing, listening to your breath, listening to your body, and listening to God. Try to let your mind wander, not dwelling on the concerns of the day, and the stresses of life, focusing instead on what is going on inside.

Try to sit for at least 2 minutes the first day, looking to increase to 5 or 10 minutes by the end of the week.


Thinking about silence, the thing that always fascinates me most about the process is the task of becoming present in the silence in a healthy way, so that we can wait and listen, rather than fill the silence with the loud thoughts that clamor for our attention. Its called quieting the mind.


I acknowledge that the task of quieting the mind is quite challenging-our brains are not wired to be doing nothing. My mother (the yoga instructor) talks about the ‘monkey mind’ the part of our brains that is always chattering away, jumping from thought to thought, catching a hold of a fleeting thought, and following it down the rabbit hole to a whole host of worries. We can go from hmm…, its so peaceful here, to I’m sorry I have to get up soon, to once I get up, what do I need to do? to what are we going to have for dinner, to planning a grocery list and worrying about nutrition, money, and world hunger within a matter of seconds. This is the challenge of silence-that we want to fill the empty space with noise, to fill the absence with something useful or important or just stuff.  For many people, the time before falling asleep is the time for the monkey mind to run wild, with one concern going to another, the mind whirring with action when we crave rest.

This is part of the experience of silence-the outer noise can provide focus and calm for the inner noise, but I think there is something to be said also for letting that inner dialogue play itself out, and seeking quietness within.
There aren't any magic solutions that I know about-Mom’s suggestion is to let the busy thoughts float away on imaginary clouds, which I find useful, but certainly no panacea. It takes practice, oddly enough, to do nothing.