Comments on: Keeping Silence – why be affraid of it?

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:20:00 +0000

I can say this from my own lack of being silent before God: whatever practical steps we take have to be very intentional. Without this, “noise” will inevitably lift up its ugly head and thwart the whole thing.

By: d10

d10 — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:21:05 +0000

Just a quick stab but I’d suggest that Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline has quite a bit to say on this topic, in the Solitude chapter.

In addition, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (in Life Together), talks about this some. He talks about how a person who can’t be alone should beware of community, and that a person who can’t be in community should beware of being alone. The idea of course is that in a believer’s life, there MUST be both silence and sound. If we are never silent before God, what do we possibly have to bring to the body?

But I think to create silence requires significant steps in the modern lives we lead. Some practical things I’ve started doing that have created more space for these types of silent moments include: driving in silence (i.e. cutting back on phone calls, ipod, radio, etc.) and also we’ve stopped watching tv at home, except for something we really care about watching (i.e. no more turning on the tv just to see if something’s on).

Just those simple steps have created a good deal of space that sometimes results in my being silent before and aware of God.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:55:14 +0000

I might ask this in another post, but for the moment I thought I would ask here. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to integrate silence into our lives in a real and meaningful way? I’m still thinking on this… What do you think?

By: Johnny T. Helms

Johnny T. Helms — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:00:47 +0000

Yes! This is one of the elements I miss from the very uptown church I attended when I became a Christian. It is a question that is floating around my church at this time. What happened to the reverence we once knew before the service started? My church is like a family reunion on Sunday mornings instead of being a time of prayer and preparation. The family part is wonderful but the family that is silent before the Lord together stays together (sorry).

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:15:24 +0000

Without a doubt, we have been conditioned (though our own hearts leave us ripe for this conditioning) to run from silence. We don’t mind being silence ourselves, as long as their is loudness around us. This makes me think of the “Silence is Golden” spats that run before any feature movie today…this of course is followed by a LOUD sound check by Lucas LTD. This is very exciting and fun for us, but Digital surround sound is not how we are going to enter God’s presence. Great post, Adam!

By: Duane Vandenberg

Duane Vandenberg — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:09:25 +0000

Great post! I’ve been enjoying askingY for a while, but I don’t respond very quickly, however this is a very good point- I think the devil instructs his minions to keep us busy. We drive in cars with radio, sure we might even be listening to good music that glorifies God, but that is almost the only place where we get away from the busy world for a while- why not use that time (or some of it) to contemplate?
Everywhere we go, it seems people are scared of silence, even public bathrooms need sound systems. I like the idea of quiet time in church, but I’ve never seen it practised, other than for a very brief time of silent prayer.

By: William

William — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 01:16:33 +0000

I taught a series on the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life in the spring, and the discipline of silence was one of them. This was one of the hardest ones for me to teach on, as there is very little silence in my life. With (now 2) kids under the age of 3, silence is difficult to come by without a major amount of intentionality. I do think, however, after studying the practice in the early church fathers’ writings and some great modern resources, that this is a crucial discipline for spiritual growth. It’s in those times of silence when you can practice self-evaluation at the deepest levels, when you can listen for the voice of God in a way that’s impossible in our fast paced culture, and when you can meditate on God’s Word without the competing distractions of our lives. It’s crucial, but most neglect it and few are intentional about making it happen. I think it’d be an awesome addition to worship – definitely something I’ll be trying in the near future at our church.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:50:01 +0000

I think silence is crucial. See, for example, lectio divina practice. And I have requested (to little avail) a lengthening of the moment of silence in our worship service which occurs right before corporate confession. I have been in some (Anglican) worship services where they really let you stew in your own juice during this part – maybe a minute or two of silent reflection and confession to God.

I don’t go to church to be entertained.