WHY SILENCE?

 

 

Photo: Saint Teresa's Motherhouse 

"Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. the wind stopped blowing and then there was an earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire. The Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice. When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave."- Kings 19:11-13

For centuries this passage in the Scripture has been influential in the Carmelite attitude on silence and solitude. In time, I have understood personally the meaning of silence and solitude in this context. For me, silence is not just a momentary break in the routine of the day to seek a quiet place to rest and pray. For me, it is a way of life. It is the habitual inclination of the soul to attend to the presence of God and to listen intently to what he has to say at every moment. Silence is an atmosphere where one is given the time to know one's self- its strengths, limitations and fears. And it is also the time when God dispenses his grace to make the soul grow.

There are the active and passive elements of silence. The active part is the continuous discernment of the will of God in our lives through the use of our own resources and faculties. Silence is a good medium for that. Then there is the passive element of receiving from God all that he wishes to reveal to us. Silence is necessary for that. 

Silence should be both external and internal. Each is complementary of the other. There can be no internal silence unless there be also an external one. We are both body and spirit. Our internal senses receive their stimulation from the external activities via our senses. External silence, on the other hand, should be animated by internal recollection, otherwise, it will merely be a form of social isolation and self-preoccupation.

Silence is so necessary in religious life because our sole aim is God. Our lives are consecrated so as to make God our only goal in life. If this not our intent then we have wasted our earthly life. God comes to us in many "disguises." If we are not "sober and alert" we will miss many of the ways and forms in which he comes to us. Silence unifies our strength. A religious, or anyone,  who does not seek silence scatters their energy and make themselves vulnerable to the assaults of the world. Silence is also is a must in religious life because we aspire to model ourselves on Mary, "the woman wrapped in silence." She is the best example of authentic religious life lived out in silence.