Chapter 42
The Rule of Benedict March 21
I hear from this chapter that silence is a value we ought to hold high in our personal practice. I also think it important to recognize that the type of silence we each need to cultivate depends upon the kind of noise that fills each of our lives. Whatever it looks like for us, let us seek to make room for silence in our daily lives.
I have been learning how to be silent for several years now. When I began, as a yogic practice, I was surprised at how difficult it was. Though I can now sit happily in meditative silence, I realize that I have not really succeeded in bringing this practice to bear on my "ordinary" life. When I am not working, I am almost always listening to npr, and I get upset when there's a program on that I don't like, or at 8:00 when the programming in finished. The craziest part is that sometimes I will keep it on even if it is a program I don't like! I like the sound, and it distracts me from silence.
ReplyDeleteI love the antiphon in our breviary that invokes the "fertility of silence." It has led me to desire cultivating silence more in my life, outside of prayer and meditation.
I love that phrase as well. I always picture kindness and gentleness and other good things sprouting in the form of green plants from my chest--the place where silence settles in me.
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