Each Sunday there are several times during worship when a rubric indicates “A Brief Silence for Reflection” or some similar phrase. It is meant to be a time for us to prepare to pray, but the brief silence can be uncomfortable for us. Some of us fidget. Sometimes someone jumps into the next prayer before the worship leader starts it.
With all of our technology, it is rare to find a quiet moment. If you walk or run, you probably put some headphones in and listen to music. When you get home, you might turn on the TV. If you’re like me, you don’t even go to bed without some sort of intentional noise in the background to drown out ... what? Creaky house noises? My own thoughts? What is it about the quiet time that makes us squirm?
Janette Metzger facilitates Ritemind Stress Less Workshops, a program that uses a step-by-step process to tame stress. In the first session, participants write down everything on their minds. Janette guides them through two to three minutes of exercises in which they breath and quiet their minds. This is where I expected her to say something like “... and then they feel better” or “... then they are mentally healthier.” Instead, once they’ve finished, they write everything down again. Usually, the content of the list is the same, but what has changed is the participant’s perspective. Now that they’ve taken a moment to quiet their minds and listen to some simple instructions, they can come to the same set of stressors with a new focus and clarity. Greater results take time. Physical and mental benefits follow. Reducing stress requires mindfulness, practice, and patience.
At Tuesday night Yoga, Becky Mastalerz leads members through traditional yoga poses while listening to quiet music. The work that happens during their time together is physical, but it is also very spiritual. The slow nature of the movement and the focus it requires helps them clear their minds and listen to their bodies and their spirits. After a while, the difficult stretches and poses become easier.
In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Lowell shared a story about inviting students at a retreat into “moments of listening” and brought us back to our quiet moments in worship – we have this opportunity on Sunday mornings and every moment to listen to what Jesus is saying. In the silence, we can turn our hearts and minds toward God and what God is telling us. If you weren’t at church Sunday, take a moment to listen to the entire sermon online.
Sometimes listening to God isn’t easy. What if our fear of silence, our fidgeting and squirming, is us resisting what God is telling us? What if hearing what God is saying goes against the way we see the world? Like the Stress Less Workshops, taking time to listen to God can help us change our perspective. And like yoga, if we spend time each day turning our hearts and minds toward God, it gets easier. During the season of Lent, we are called to make room for this prayerful listening. This Sunday, we’ll hear Jesus tell Martha that despite all the busy-ness of our lives, few things are needed, and that indeed only listening to God is important.