Silence is Golden

In today’s modern world there seems to be a need for constant mind-numbing sound. How many people fall asleep with a television broadcasting mindlessness into the sanctuary of their bedrooms? Only to wake up to a blaring radio alarm clock? Shower and get ready for the day while listening to news or morning radio? Commute to work or school while plugged into iPods or other headphone devices, and droning along amid the noise of traffic – engines, exhausts, screeching tires, & blaring horns? All day long, people chatter on cellular phones about such important topics as which contestant got voted off of  American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, who won last night’s game, or what movie is premiering next weekend.

If we are not actually chatting, talking, or listening to music – we seem to be “texting” some urgent message to a compadre that is not present, even while we are spending time with someone else. Our minds are constantly at work wondering about the useless “necessities” and worrying about events that have not yet come, while consumed in a whirlwind of constant activities that some call “multitasking.” Were we really meant to talk on the telephone, work on the laptop, send texts, listen to music, watch tv, and read a magazine all at the same time? I wonder if anyone ever actually concentrates anymore – or will that word disappear from the dictionary someday?

Scripture tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.” It’s one thing to actually take time to slow down but how can we be still if we can’t be quiet for at least a few minutes. Quiet involves silence. Ok, that makes sense but how? Take a few moments to stop “doing” a thousand and one things. Next turn your attention to finding a quiet place – this could be in your home, in a church, maybe even out in nature. Now that you’ve stopped doing and have found a quiet place to sit, you’ll find a couple other distractions begin to creep in upon your solitude: ambient noise will now be heard, a car passing by or a plane flying overhead, a dog barking, birds singing, or children laughing in the distance. Let them go, place them in the background. If you’re lucky enough to find quiet from these types of things, you may now find it difficult to shut off your own mind: a thousand and one worries or cares may now pop into your consciousness – offer those cares up to the Lord, ask Him to help quiet your mind. He will, those cares do not need to be addressed right now!

Now that you have found some peace and quiet, you may become aware of your own heartbeat, or breathing … don’t let those distract you but enter into the rhythm; control your breathing with deliberate inhales and exhales, allow your heartbeat to slow, there are no cares, no worries, no future concerns. There is just you & you God, alone in the quiet, in the solitude, in the silence … just be at peace and listen. Ah, silence is golden! -jdpater

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Zen and the Art of Finding Your True Self

The Christian Tradition is filled with stories of Saints & Mystics, Theologians & Philosophers, Warriors & Activists, Monks & Mendicants, Hermits & Wanderers, Writers & Psalmists, priests, religious, and lay people of every background and profession. We have the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Fathers of the Church, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and thousands upon thousands of books on spirituality and theology and religions from around the world. Yet what is at the heart of the message? That there is One God, who is Creator, Father, Lover of all. He not only created us but saved us; sent us the example – the Way to follow in His Son Jesus; He empowers us with His own Spirit; sends us grace, blessings, forgiveness; gives us faith, hope & charity; teaches us real Love by loving us in His own Person … the constant action of the Trinity, calling us back to Him, freeing us from all obstacles, helping us along the way, and is ever present to us! BUT we are all sinners and constantly sever ourselves from God. We seperate ourselves from God! Why?

If God is Present always, in all things, in all people – why do we not see Him clearly and continually thank & praise Him? The answer is found in a simple word: “I” … our sense of “self” is false. There can be no I without the God who is, who was, and will always be. We must die to ourselves, whereby we lose ourselves and become Christ-like to find our true selves. We do not exist alone, we are all one in God. A deep concept and difficult to understand in this world of me, myself, and I.

In the Eastern religions, there is the concept of Nothingness – of finding self as one with all and all is nothing – this world is passing and our true self can only be experienced within that cloud of nothing, which is the center of everything. Again, this is a deep concept and seems to ignore the idea of God, yet it is precisely where God exists … not “out there somewhere” but within each of us. Once our God is experienced within, then we can easily see God in nature, in other people, in both good and bad experiences, in all.

Our Christian mystics speak of this in difficult concepts to express: the Dark Night of the Soul, the Cloud of Unknowing, “infused contemplation”, “meditation of the soul” etc. Thomas Merton, a twentieth century Trappist Monk, and popular spiritual author and poet, did much research into Eastern spirituality, to help him reconcile his own experience of contemplation within a fully Christocentric theology. His findings – we must die to ourselves, struggle in this “darkness” where God reveals Himself in His own time, and thus we find our true selves, as being one wth Him and each other. This metanoia, this changing of our old selves is true conversion, however, it is only a small taste of what we can share for all eternity.

Merton takes it a step further – after this “experience” of God, we cannot help but live for others. We must concern ourselves with helping others, social action, peace and justice, and constantly dying to self – for it is the only way we can surely live “until it is no longer us that lives but Christ that lives in us.”

So, as we complete this 3rd week of Lent – look around, look within. What concerns are pressing? What is leading us toward Christ, or away from Him? How can we die to our old selves? Ask the Lord to guide you back to Him, to feel compunction for your past sins, to lose your false sense of self, to open you to His Spirit, to transform you! Ask and you shall receive … that’s a promise.

Watch the news: Rain storms, mud slides, snow storms, hurricanes, earth quakes, volcanic erruptions, plane crashes, poor economy, high crime rates, terrorist attacks, famine, war – our troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan … you get the idea. It’s bad out there – the world needs God’s peace, we need God’s peace … it’s already within you, and you can bring it to the rest of the world – right now, today, this minute! Ask God to transform you into your true self – what you were meant to be; the reason you were created.

Don’t be afraid; Christ already died on the Cross, and Rose Again! We are called to die too – like Christ but the Good News is – it works! There is more to life than I, I, I, me, me, me … it’s time for change. If you are reading this blog, you are searching for something … your soul is restless. It’s time for your true self to be set free. There is only one Way – through Jesus; just ask Him to lead the way. To quote Nike “just do it” … sit in the quiet, in the darkness of your interior, the Light will shine. Do it today! jdpater

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