July 1, 2024

Even when we find ourselves grounded and feeling stable, itdoesn’t take long for our thoughts to be distracted and we are back into the chaos.Richard Rohr says that “silenceprecedes, undergirds, and grounds everything. We cannot just think of it as anaccident, or as something unnecessary. Unless we learn how to live there, gothere, abide in this different phenomenon, the rest of things—words, events,relationships, identities—become rather superficial, without depth or context.They lose meaning, so we end up searching for more events and situations whichmust increasingly contain ever-higher stimulation, more excitement, and morecolor to add vital signs to our inherently bored and boring existence.”

In this episode, we will experience some silence and try toobserve the chaos in our lives from a still, silent center. Then we will seewhere it is that we want to jump back into the chaos and try and let go andstay in our stability, choosing silence.

Listening portion is from 1 Kings 11, The Message Version.

Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attentionbefore God. God will pass by.” A hurricane wind ripped throughthe mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’tto be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’tin the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t inthe fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-gift-of-silence/