LISTEN. Day 8 of Lent. We are starved for quiet.

LISTEN. Day 8 of Lent. We are starved for quiet.

“We are starved for quiet, to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God Himself.” Ruth Haley Barton

What is it to become quiet? To just be, silent.

It seems we can always hear the ‘buzz’.
Our world glorifies busy.

And the intense rush of instant and now and going there and doing this is an incessant white noise of loud that only seems to surge.

There’s family, those friends you can’t do life without then the grind of secular work, that pulse of agendas in the background and the pursuit of those dreams.  We all juggle life the best we know how to do and fit God in, not always first and sometimes last and often in the midst of all the noise.

“Silence is the most challenging, the most needed and the least experienced spiritual discipline among evangelical Christians today.” Ruth Haley Barton explains in one of my all time favorite books, Invitation to Solitude and Silence-experiencing God’s transforming presence. Barton says, “We are starved for mystery, to know this God as One who is totally Other and to experience reverence in His presence. We are starved for intimacy, to see and feel and know God in the very cells of our being.  We are starved for rest, to know God beyond what we can do for Him. We are starved for quiet, to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God himself.”

There are seasons when life roars with activity like a rock concert and when the mute button gets pushed we get incredibly nervous. We’re suddenly alone, with ourselves.  It feels odd, almost scary.

Silence only emerges for most of us in the middle of the night. We wake up and the clock says 3:15am. Again. We count sheep or bills, worry about the kids or work out a problem. Or maybe you pray. Interceding for others or just resting in worship. But are you ever just silent. For most of us our mind never rest.

Last night, at 3:15 am, I just went ‘shhh’.
Be still.
I left off the rest of the verse, and know that I am God or my mind would have started to engage and meditate.
I just practiced silence and I offered that sacred invitation.
Spirit, I give you permission to come in and do what you do in this soul of mine.

Silence. And there, they say, is the presence of God Himself.

click link below to learn more about Ruth Haley Barton’s book:

Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence