Strategic Monk
Listening to the Sacred Stillness Within Us
We sit still, listening to the sacred stillness within us.
When we become confused or exhausted, when we think we can go no further, we stop and listen. The only way we can find our path past the voices all around us is in the stillness.
Some of us have little experience with the stillness within us. Like children who are afraid of the dark we have hidden from sacred stillness as long as we can. We may not know why we find stillness unsettling, why we are afraid of what we might hear. Still, we hide under our beds or pull the covers up over our heads.
It is a contemplative practice to listen to the sacred stillness within us. We take time to sit still, close our eyes, take deep breaths, and listen to what the stillness has to tell us.
In my experience God does not speak to us in billboards or blazing letters written across the sky. God does not force us to pay attention. We hear the voice of God in the stillness within us.
Our practice is not about listening to ourselves or reviewing the events of our day or our week. We are not practicing analyzing or sorting out secret messages written in the clouds.
When we listen to the sacred stillness within us we hear God who lives in our hearts.
Some of us must work hard to filter out all the other voices in our ears. We set aside the expectations of other people, the latest news, the music running through our heads.
The challenge for us is to find the sacred stillness within us and to take time to listen.
It can be difficult for us to listen well, especially to stillness within us.
Finding the Sacred Stillness Within Us
Some of us have hidden the stillness within us deep inside us. We constructed intricate defenses to protect us from the stillness we fear before we were conscious of what we were doing.
Our spiritual journey has become a trip of exploration and discovery. We find the defenses we have constructed and so carefully hidden from ourselves and overcome them.
The stillness within us draws us in even as we are afraid of what it might tell us. Learning and growing and coming to appreciate the stillness within us becomes the story of our lives.
How do we find the sacred stillness we have hidden from ourselves? What obstacles will we face as we overcome the ways we defend our inner stillness?
Each of us has built our own defenses to hide our stillness. The intricacies we face are personal to each of us individually. There are, though, similar ways to explore them and discover our inner stillness.
One essential to deciphering our inner defenses is remembering they are designed to protect us. Even though we have put our defenses together unconsciously, we know they respond to our fears.
Facing our fear shows us how to get through our defenses and listen to sacred stillness within us.
Many of the people with whom I work believe God wants to punish them. They believe spiritual life is primarily about people following the rules and not having any fun in life.
I work with them, guiding them on their path away from things which would rob them of their joy.
Listening to the sacred stillness within us is one of the ways spiritual life reveals more joy to us. Stillness is not about us sitting at attention and avoiding fun. We listen and open ourselves to the stillness within us.
Living Into the Sacred Stillness Within Us
Many of us look for a quiet place to practice contemplative listening to sacred stillness. Some of us practice together with other people in places of worship. We find a time and place which fits into our schedule for our own personal practice.
It can help us to practice listening somewhere peaceful. We separate ourselves from external distractions and noises which make it more challenging to listen. Many of us find it helpful to sit in a peaceful place, particularly as we begin our practice.
I have practiced listening to sacred stillness in monasteries and churches, at home and in other people’s homes. Sitting outside when the weather permits can be conducive to good listening.
As my practice grows over time I have also found the sacred stillness within me spreads out into the world around me. I have practiced listening to sacred stillness in waiting rooms and airports, and on airplanes.
Living into the sacred stillness within me has become a more central part of my practice over time. I have found opportunities to be someone who spreads stillness and listening.
The stillness I find in myself has become a resource for serving other people.
Sharing the Sacred Stillness Within Us In the World
We live in a world where it has become common for strangers to share their strong opinions. Many of us are willing to share our political or theological views with people we have never met.
Some people believe the Internet and social media have become places to scream our perspectives at each other. It is more and more difficult to avoid online arguing.
I have plenty of strong opinions of my own and am often happy to share them. As I think about how I communicate online, I wonder how helpful people would find my views.
There appear to be more people looking for someone who can listen well than for someone to tell them what to do.
People ask me to help them make decisions and understand what they believe. I believe, online and in person, more people benefit from my listening to them and asking questions.
Listening to the sacred stillness within us helps us listen well to other people.
How will we practice listening to the sacred stillness within us today?
When can we share the sacred stillness within us in the world this week?
[Image by deeps.adhi]
Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].
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