Posted on by Kurt Bodling

a source for the apophatic

“As an approach in spirituality, the apophatic tradition can be traced to yet another source in the fourth century. The monastic experience of early desert dwellers like Evagrius of Pontus gave rise to the discipline of prayer which paralleled the negative way. Living at Nitria in the wilderness west of the Nile, desert silence and simplicity taught him the relinquishment of self that accompanies the renunciation of language.”

Lane, Belden C. The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 64.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

practical notes on silence

“Some spiritual leaders have the privilege of regularly incorporating silence into their spiritual routines. Most people would find it difficult, in the course of their work routines and family obligations, to carve out a day of silence every week or even once a month! Nonetheless, all followers of Christ would benefit from incorporating this practice into their schedules and rhythms of life. For some, it might mean setting aside a Saturday a month to spend time in the discipline of silence. For others, it may mean asking a friend to come and watch the kids for a few hours during the afternoon so that one can enter into silence without the responsibilities of parenting during that time.”

Cannon, Mae Elise. Just Spirituality: How Faith Practices Fuel Social Action. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2013, p. 31.

Note: ALL followers of Christ would benefit

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radical proposals to build silence

"…to resign oneself to a situation in which a community is constantly overwhelmed with activity, noise of machines, etc., is an abuse.

"What to do? Those who love God should attempt to preserve or create an atmosphere in which He can be found. Christians should have quiet homes. Throw out television, if necessary – not everybody, but those who take this sort of thing seriously. Radios useless. Stay away from the movies – I was going to say ‘as a penance’ but it would seem to me to be rather a pleasure than a penance, to stay away from the movies. Maybe even form small agrarian communities in the country where there would be no radios etc.

"Let those who can stand a little silence find other people who like silence, and create silence and peace for one another. Bring up their kids not to yell so much. Children are naturally quiet – if they are left alone and not given the needle from the cradle upward, in order that they may develop into citizens of a state in which everybody yells and is yelled at.

“Provide people with places where they can go to to be quiet – relax minds and hearts in the presence of God – chapels in the country, or in town also. Reading rooms, hermitages. Retreat houses without a constant ballyhoo of noisy ‘exercises’ – they even yell the stations of the Cross, and not too far from Gethsemani either.”

“For many it would mean great renunciation and discipline to give up these sources of noise: but they know it is what they need. Afraid to do it because their neighbors would think they were bats.” (9 November 1950)

Merton, Thomas. The Sign of Jonas. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1981. (originally published 1953), p. 311-312.

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words about silence

"Since God is so ultimately unknowable–the divine light is so dazzling that it blinds us–perhaps it is reasonable to say that the word of God is so overpowering that we can experience it only as (and through) silence.

“As soon as I say that, however, another paradox emerges, for I am using words to testify to God’s ‘meta-wordness.’ This paradox has been part of the mystical tradition since the days of the biblical writers (if not before). We cannot put God into words. And, it appears, we cannot stop trying to do just that.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, p. 167.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

Easter silence

“The grace of Easter is a profound silence, an immense peace, and a pure taste in the soul. It is the taste of heaven, away from all disordered excitement. The Paschal vision does not consist in a rapture of the spirit; it is the silent discovery of God.” Thought 205.

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017, p. 106.

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rebirth through travail

“Solitude and silence are wonderful refreshment, a healthy alternative to the noise and chaos of this modern world. But anyone who as spent more than just a few hours or days practicing this knows that the process of rebirth from death to self is often found only through some experience of travail. Only then do we know the joys of the newborn child of the Spirit of God.”

Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010, page 23.

Comment: Talbot says that the suffering of the dark night will indeed hit us – he says sooner, rather than later – once we begin the disciplines of silence and solitude. But he also assures us that it’s a period we have to go through in order to reach the joy of new life in Christ.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

silence and solitude are linked

“Usually, silence and solitude are joined together. One is not possible, or at least fruitful, without the other. For instance, if we seek both external and interior silence, we must establish an environment where this deep silence can be developed and can grow. That environment is solitude. When solitude and silence are joined together, they produce a sacred stillness that permeates every aspect of our life.”

Talbot, John Michael. The World is My Cloister: Living From the Hermit Within. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010, page 21.

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unmoored from the old

“Even where the contemplative is not expressly forbidden to follow what he believes to be the inspiration of God (and this not rarely happens), he may feel himself continually and completely at odds with the accepted ideals of those around him. Their spiritual exercises may seem to him to be a bore and waste of time. Their sermons and their conversation may leave him exhausted with a sense of futility: as if he had been pelted with words without meaning. Their choral offices, their excitement over liturgical ceremony and chant may rob him of the delicate taste of an interior manna that is not found in formulas of prayers and exterior rites. If only he could be alone and quiet, and remain in the emptiness, darkness, and purposelessness in which God speaks with such overwhelming effect! But no, spiritual lights and nosegays are forced upon his mind, he must think and say words, he must sing ‘Alleluias’ that somebody else wants him to feel. He must strive to smack his lips on a sweetness which seems to be unutterably coarse and foul: not because of what it aspires to say, but simply because it is secondhand.” (p. 77)

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, page 77. (NOTE: Merton wrote this text in 1959)

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silence, worship, and noise

"Silence is an attitude of the soul. It cannot be decreed without appearing overrated, empty, and artificial. In the Church’s liturgies, silence cannot be a pause between two rituals; silence itself is fully a ritual, it envelops everything. Silence is the fabric from which all our liturgies must be cut. Nothing in them should interrupt the silent atmosphere that is its natural setting.

“Now, celebrations become tiring because they unfold in noisy chattering.” Thought 250.

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017, p. 130.

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deeper than experience

“Mysticism is a story that begins in silence and only takes on the form of language and narrative after the fact. We say that mysticism involves experience: the experience of union with God, or of the presence of God, or something as extraordinary as Teresa’s encounter with the angel, or Merton’s street corner lovefest. But experience is not the entire story, either. The problem with experience is that it can be driven by the human ego, a self-directed phenomenon that can too easily become self-absorbed. Mysticism affirms the mystery of God more than mere experience. Sometimes God chooses to encounter us deep beneath the horizon of our awareness. That’s one of many reasons why we call this type of spirituality ‘mysticism’–it ushers us into mystery, deeper than what our minds or even our hearts can comprehend.”

McColman, Carl. The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: an Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023, pp. 15-16.