Quieting the Inner Noise
This article is written by Susan Reese, EdD, Sioux Falls Seminary Professor of Spiritual Formation, Christian Spiritual Director, Certified Strengths Finder Coach. Originally published in Touchpoint July/August 2018.
My day started with several texts of concern: a friend whose mother did not receive adequate care at the hospital, a relative who is a bit overwhelmed with a home remodel project, a friend whose husband applied for a job in another city and the family is uncertain about a move, and a relative with concerns and updates about her actively dying father. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers!
Do you ever find that you long for silence or that “silence” simply finds you? The kind of silence where you do not have words for what is happening around you but you are aware that God is inviting you into the silence, into prayer.
Dr. Margaret Guenther, author of Holy Listening, describes our lives as Christians as chased by the dynamics of over activity, loneliness, anxiety, and longings. In her ministry of spiritual direction she found that many Christians fear of being out of control and perhaps not knowing how to be intimate with God. She also found many people were busy doing ministry, which can be good, but neglecting the sense of being loved by God.
What keeps us from silence – from quieting the inner noise? Take a few moments to consider the roles you fulfill in life each day. What does each role require of you spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, and socially? How demanding does each of these roles feel to you? Is there anything in your daily expectations that keeps you from engaging in silence and solitude?
What is silence? According to the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, silence is closing off our souls from “sounds” whether noise, music, or words, so that we may better still the inner chatter and clatter of our noise hearts and be
increasingly attentive to God. Silence is a discipline of abstaining from noise and distractions to center our entire being and attention to God.
In Conformed to His Image, Kenneth Boa writes, “Silence is a catalyst of solitude; it prepares the way for inner seclusion and enables us to listen to the quiet voice of the Spirit. Few of us have experienced silence, and most people find it to be uncomfortable at first. Silence is at odds with the din of our culture and the popular addiction to noise and hubbub. This discipline relates not only to finding places of silence in our surroundings but also to time of restricted speech in the presence of others.” (p.83)
Silence, which moves us to solitude, is the space and place where we worship, pray and hear God’s will and purposes for our daily living. Silence and solitude ground us in God’s loving embrace for the circumstances we experience in life.
I was walking through Hobby Lobby with a relative in a difficult season of life and saw a creatively made sign stating, “The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.” Exodus 14:14.
I was silenced. Not because of the artistry of the sign, but because of the reminder that our Lord fights for us while we are in the stillness, in the silence, in solitude. This verse appears in Exodus before Moses led the Hebrews through the parting of the Red Sea. Can you imagine the courage it took to lead and live into that experience!?!
That kind of courage comes from having heard the voice of God, in the stillness, in the silence, in solitude. In The Cup of Life, Joyce Rupp writes that solitude is not always being comfortable and comforting. Solitude can be a lonely, restless time, or a time when painful memories visit us. When we experience restlessness, loneliness, or other unwanted emotions in our solitude, we stay there with them. We don’t run away. We sit with our tears or our joy. We let our hunger for God growl in our hearts. We listen to the pain. We have compassion for ourselves.
We trust that whatever is in our solitude will eventually bear fruits because God is there with us. Our solitude helps us to “be” with God. Give yourself time and permission to enter into silence, into solitude.
This is a favored practice of mine to enter silence:
Silence your body, to listen to your words.
Silence your tongue, to listen to your thoughts.
Silence your thoughts, to listen to your heart.
Silence your heart, to listen to your spirit.
Silence your spirit to listen to His spirit— the Holy Spirit.*
*Written by Mama Maggie, a Coptic Christian who
spends her life caring for children whose home is a
landfill in Greece.
For Further Reading:
Holy Listening by Margaret Gunther
Conformed to His Image, Kenneth Boa
Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible
The Cup of Life, Joyce Rupp