Sounds of Silence (pt.1)

When was the last time you experienced silence? I mean real silence- like no one is talking to you, kids are not running around screaming and laughing, the phone is out of the room, the music is off, there are no videos or podcasts playing, and nowhere in your line of sight is there a sign, billboard, or book?

I can tell you that it is a rare commodity in our 21st century lives.

I can also tell you that there is something wrong with not being able to just be, to feel this constant nagging that there is something else I should be doing with this moment in time, that regardless of my output and productivity there is still more I could give.

To be candid, I am a productivity fanatic. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to optimize various aspects of my life. How to increase my capacity through systems and organization. I am a devotee of scheduling, colour coding, time blocking and so much more. And there is benefit to all that- I rarely miss deadlines, my “yes” is a pretty sure thing (if I agree to do something, I’ll do it), I have a weird array of skills and information stored in my brain since I am constantly multitasking- taking in information as often and as much as possible. “Passive tasks” (like folding the laundry, or driving somewhere) are opportunities to do, or learn, or be, something else.

Or, at least that’s how I used to be.

I genuinely thought I was improving my life by wringing productivity out of every possible moment. However, that thought ended in a deafening silence when my phone died mid-podcast. One moment I was washing dishes and the next I was overwhelmed with awkwardness and anxiety.

I realized that my own thoughts were strangers to me.

More significantly, I realized I had not heard from God in a while.

So I began to look for ways to stop.

And I found the spiritual practice of Silence.

In The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun defines the practice of silence as, “a regenerative practice of attending and listening to God in quiet, without interruption and noise. Silence provides freedom from speaking as well as from listening to words or music.”

This is your upfront warning- because I didn’t know that the myriad of benefits I saw others boast of from their silence practices (calmness, increased awareness of emotions, developed focus and concentration, lowered levels of stress and anxiety…) weren’t going to happen right away.

So here it goes:

I wanted to hear God, (and I wanted those other benefits) but as Dallas Willard puts it “Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not, in general, want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.” Practices like silence become useful only when they are attended to regularly and with the right intentions.

Regeneration

Attending

Listening without interruption

Freedom

If any of those words jump off the page for you, if you haven’t heard from God in a while, if you’re looking to make an investment into your spiritual piggy bank, then I want to invite you to consider practicing Silence.

Love ya,

P.s. prayerfully consider whether you are able to invest in a season of Silence. I’ll be releasing more of my journey with silence each week of September, and will be including some practical tips and how-to’s, along with some insights I’ve gleaned through this practice.

Questions? shoot me an email (meghanlamatthews@gmail.com) msg me on Instagram (@itsmeghanmatthews) or leave a note in the comments below!