Gift of silence and solitude

New Year, new calendar to fill. I imagine we share a similar story as the days in 2018 begin to unfold. Just a few days into the year and already my calendar rushes me ahead to the coming months as I fill the dates for future events.

We just finished what sometimes feels like a rush through Advent and into the Christmas season. The speed of life can leave us breathless. As a remedy, I find silence and solitude essential. This can take the form of a mini retreat or even just a few short moments alone without any distractions, without music, television, or any other noise. Setting aside such time is most helpful for prayer. Without it, how can we make sure the rhythm of our lives is in tune with God’s will for us? 

A dear friend has been inviting me to learn more about contemplative prayer, which the St. Teresa of Avila said, “means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2709.)

I confess I struggle with staying still, but I think contemplative prayer may help me find a balance to the sometimes crazy tempo in my life.

I have also come to appreciate the simple pleasures of the ordinary – the art of lingering, of drinking a cup of green jasmine tea, of reading a few pages from a book, or even preparing a meal or taking a short walk.  Always I emerge refreshed and ready to tackle the next challenge.

If we are constantly in motion, running through our to-do list, even adding to it before we have a chance to complete the list, if we are incessantly caught up in all the chatter of the world, if our mind has lost some focus, if we start to lose our creative spark, it may be time to retreat. Sometimes we need a “Do Not Disturb” sign to create some space to rest and recharge.

Winter, with the darker nights and cold chills that cue nature to rest before a spring rebirth, reminds us it is healthy to take a break. What joy, though, knowing dormant periods are opportunities for regrowth, for renewal.

Silence and solitude give us space to think, to hear our own voice. The world grows loud with others’ ideas and opinions. Finding time to process and form our own ideas takes time. Social media, which helps keep us connected to our ever-widening community and provides us with some valuable communications tools and countless idea resources, grows overzealous for our time. There is simply too much to take in as we scroll through hundreds and thousands of posts daily.

It is healthy to step away from all the noise in the world; healthy to rest and recharge. Just as we sometimes have to turn off and restart our computers, we have to refresh ourselves. When was the last time you took a nap? How did you feel afterwards? I used to take naps on Sunday afternoons. It’s been awhile, but I remember how refreshing they felt.

The gift to myself this January and in this New Year – some silence and solitude, some time for contemplative prayer. Even if it’s just for a few short moments interspersed amidst all the rush and chatter, I am going to make use of my virtual “Do Not Disturb” sign. I am especially going to make sure my calendar includes scheduled time for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

As noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith.” (CC 2710)

(Originally published in January 2018 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)

Making time to climb a mountain

New Year, new possibilities. As much as I like the start of a New Year and the possibilities it brings, I don’t like how quickly the calendar fills with commitments, sometimes to the point of leaving no room to be still. I can only blame myself and my inability to say no, added to my tendency to fill any extra hours to capacity.

As I begin to mark my calendar this New Year, I want to make certain to include time to retreat and climb a mountain. Jesus taught us to retreat, to go up to a mountain top and find time alone to pray. “But he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.” Luke 5:16

Finding time to be alone is one of the reasons I enjoy camping and hiking. In past years I've had the grace to climb some incredible mountains – Mount Sinai in Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, Mount Rose in Nevada. Reaching the summit was challenging but the view of God’s creation and the silence was worth each strained muscle. Not only did each hike help me slow my pace, each helped me set aside distractions from my day-to-day routine. The hikes helped me pay attention, to take in the view. The long climbs also gave me time to think and to pray.

Granted, we do not have any mountains in the Rio Grande Valley, but we can set aside time to claim our own space, our metaphorical mountains, to sit in prayer and silence with God. One of my favorite spaces is in my backyard porch, either early in the morning before anyone wakes up or midmornings on weekends when I can sit and listen to the wind playing with the leaves.

While advances in technology have helped us become more efficient, it feels like all the latest gadgets also serve to keep us on a leash around the clock. Not only are we connected 24 hours a day, information streams in from all directions, making it a noisy world to navigate. Sometimes we have to disconnect, make time to be still, to go on a retreat, even if for a few minutes. Silence, solitude, and space help us become better listeners. In our noisy world, given all our distractions, how can we respond to what God is calling us to if we are not attentive to his direction?

“When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary,” said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his message for World Communications Day in 2012. “Deeper reflection helps us to discover the links between events that at first sight seem unconnected, to make evaluations, to analyze messages; this makes it possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic body of shared knowledge. For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI also said, “Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves.”

Pope Francis reminds us as well, “In the history of salvation, neither in the clamor nor in the blatant, but the shadows and the silence are the places in which God chose to reveal himself to humankind.”

The Annotations to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, note “the more our soul finds itself alone and isolated, the more apt it makes itself to approach and to reach its Creator and Lord, and the more it so approaches him, the more it disposes itself to receive graces and gifts from his Divine and Sovereign Goodness.”

There are different ways to disconnect, different spaces for prayer and silence – hiking outdoors, participating in a contemplative prayer group, signing up for retreat, Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, or taking time to garden. Each of us has to find our own mountain where we can retreat to in this New Year.  So instead of making New Year’s resolutions, this year I am going to focus on scheduling time on my calendar to slow my pace and climb a mountain.

(Originally published in January 2015 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)