Silence

Just over a month ago now I went on my very first silent retreat. It was at a Sussex Friary that hosts members of the Chemin Neuf community.

It was an incredible time of rich reflection and learning, and there were times where I met God in remarkably intense encounters.
If it weren't for our commitment to silence, I believe much would have been lost from our experience.

On the first morning, as we were all slowly adjusting to this mode of being, I sat and watch my fellow 'retreatees' and wrote this...


So here we are, the community of the, as yet, uncomfortably silent.

Feeling our way through the awkwardness,
fighting the life learned ways of being,
wrestling our wills, our thoughts, our bodies into obedience.

It is a good place to be.

A place where people are felt more than noticed.

Where our inner worlds mingle in quiet communion.

We notice our habits and the well trodden paths we find ourselves so naturally drawn down.

And then, there is a presence. Rolling in like a wave.
Gently, very gently, but ever so real, ever so present.
The presence of Jesus rolling in on us.

And there is freedom here,
a freedom unshackled by expectation and pressure to conform,
to be ok,
to be 'normal'.

Here we are permitted to be our truest selves.

Lord you are welcome here.
Come make yourself,
your constant truest self,
known to us.