Practice Thoughtful Silence
Psalm 131
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
Yesterday Brenna Rubio preached about finding God in silence, like Zechariah did in the 9 months before John the Baptist was born (Luke 1). In our world, silence is very, very rare. Too often we fear silence because it means we might face whatever lurks beneath the surface of our own lives. Perhaps it’s fear driving us to be busy, perhaps it’s anxiety that fills our lives with noise, or perhaps it’s loneliness that we cover over with our constant use of screens.
This week we’re going to step into a simple practice of being silent with God. Brenna talked about taking a walk around the block each day as a spiritual practice, silently praying through one question for each side of the block.
If it doesn’t work for you to walk, consider taking 5 minutes in silence (set a timer if you need to!) and move through the the questions. If you can walk, get outside taking one side of the city block to ponder each of the following questions. Let this be your practice for the week.
God, will you help me remember my belovedness and my connection to you?
God, will you help me connect to my own heart - what’s really going on inside of me today?
God, will you help me see what you are up to in my life today?
God, will you help me look forward through the rest of this day and to talk with you about what is coming up?