“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”
“Now, again, I say to you that unless you labor and sweat for this fearsome Name to be imprinted into your heart and mind, needlessly do you live in stillness... This much-longed-for Name (Jesus Christ) is the inner essence of stillness and silence.”
The Effect of Silence
Silence helps to purify the prayer life in that it reveals and then gives room to silence our disparate inner voices. Silence as a rhythm of life is not so much entering silence (though that is part), but it is the discovering of God’s heart as you learn to silence your own.
“Silence greatly helps a monk, for it not only hinders him from doing something bad, but it also purifies his prayer, freeing it from every earthly thought; and it generates Godly mourning and compunction in his mind…. Silence, like a noble and beautiful mother, perfectly and unerringly gives birth to virtues through constant and unbroken communion of the soul with God. A monk who loves and seeks silence is beloved of God; for he, out of strong love for God, communicates with Him alone through pure prayer. Though he lives on earth, nonetheless his pious thought continuously resorts to heavenly things, and his mind’s entire concern is how to please God, alone, and how to erect a temple to the Holy Spirit.” ~ Abba Antiochos
According to Abba Antiochos, silence is aided by patient self-control, cultivation of a soft heart, keeping watch over the thoughts that impact the heart, and self-restraint. Vigilance watches the thoughts, meekness reaches out to God for help, forbearance continues to attempt perfection, and temperance restrains the thoughts.
Silence helps to divest us of the world things we are attached to, whether people or things. In silence your heart will be drawn to something, and that thing will occupy your thoughts. The goal of these moments is to train your heart to grope for God, and thereby create an abiding silence within.
“This good spirit (Holy Spirit), which greatly gladdens the soul and illuminates the intellect, cannot act or manifest itself where there are noise and agitation, for through them fantasies (about earthly and worldly objects) take possession of the soul.” ~ Abba Antiochos
I’ll be back tomorrow to discuss The Effect of Solitude.
Blessings,
Joshua Hoffert
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How do you avoid or resist silence?
Do you like to fill the silence with sound or learning - music, talk shows, news, and so forth?
How do you actively practice the rhythm of silence before God in your life?
How much time each day do you give to silence (i.e. no words, printed or audible?)
Think of silence from God’s perspective. What would He think about your time with Him?