Life is filled with a lot of unnecessary noise. The radio, news, kids screaming and whining, disagreements, sports, network television, cell phones, emails, annoying people at work, iPods, Facebook, Twitter... the list goes on and on. Sometimes I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs to tell everyone to “Shut the heck up!”It's frustrating to try and talk to someone, whether it is a teenager or adult, only to find them distracted and unable to hold a decent intellectual conversation. People are way over stimulated and the noise definitely makes them sick in the head. New terms such as ADD, ADHD and Adult ADD are all too common at this time. What is the deal?
Earlier times of history were certainly much quieter. Spouses could sit down and really talk about the events of the day without the cell phone letting them know that they had 80 text messages, 125 emails, 53 Facebook friend requests and that 45 more people were following on Twitter.
I am learning pretty fast how much noise I can handle. With my new apostolates forming and contacts growing, I have to keep everything prioritized.
I embrace technology and the way that it can help me to evangelize others. However, technology can affect us in negative ways, and we need to be careful how we use it.
Every human being is made for God. I've heard it said that we have a God-shaped hole and the only person or thing to fill it is God.
God made us in his image and likeness, and made us to love him. We were made to participate in the mystical inner life of the Trinity. This means we need to be in total communion with our Creator.
The Trinity is a communion of persons; a communion of love. We were created to share in the Divine love story of the Trinity.
Now, this should leave us asking, "How do we participate in such a grandiose reality?"
Essentially, we need to look at the examples of those who have lived this earthly life and have merited eternal life, the canonized saints of the Church. Ever since the dawn of the Christian Church, we see examples of a deep, serious spiritual life. How did they get to be so "saintly"? I will spare detailed examples, so pick up a book written by one of your favorite saints. What they all have in common is a serious spiritual discipline. They all took moments throughout their busy day to reflect on the mysteries of God.
Let's now reflect on how to relate this to our day.
First we stated that there is so much unneeded noise. Second, we stated that we needed to commune with God on a deeper level. There is something to be said about how to deepen our communion with God. Again, reflect.... Where does God dwell within us? Remember, at the moment of our baptism, God implanted the Holy Spirit at the core of our soul. So, knowing this, he must dwell at the core of our soul. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is the Son; where the Son is, there is the Father; and where the Father is, there is the Son; and so on. So, we can determine that at the moment of our baptism, the Trinitarian God has implanted the fullness of His Divine life in us.
So, this is all great and everything, but isn't this talk only for saints or the Pope?
Well, everyone is called to be holy. Turning to the pages of Scripture, we read in 1 Peter 1:15-16 "but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy.” So, now how can we attain this?
Back to the noise... sometimes we need to just turn everything off and be still and silent. There should be a set time in every person's day to just be silent with God.
As the prophet Elijah found out in 1 Kings 19:11-13, was not in the loud commotion, but in the soft, gentle whisper. This is an example for us to internalize.
Yes, listening to solid preaching, profound teaching and wonderful praise music is good, but sometimes God really wants to speak to us in the silence. This is where we meet God on the most fundamental level. He abides in us in the deepest recesses of our soul, so it is only through silence that we can quiet down enough to be with God.
You see, the tragedy of today isn't so much that God has abandoned us, it's the fact that we do not take the time to slow down and experience God’s love.
Referring to contemplative prayer, Thomas Keating on page 162 of Intimacy With God" states: The development of one's relationship with Christ to the point of communing beyond words, thoughts, and feelings; a process of moving from the simplified activity of waiting upon God to the ever increasing predominance of the gifts of the Spirit as the source of one's prayer.
Putting it frankly, when you commune with God in the silence, that's exactly what it should be...silence. There is no need to tell God what you need during this time of prayer "for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Mt 6:8)
Since I need to be clear on specifics of this type of prayer, I will shortly go over the how to and how long.
We've determined that this type of prayer will consist of simply being silence in the presence of God. All that is needed is to sit or kneel in a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus on being open to God. Simply wait for the Lord to do what He needs to do with you. This can be done in the Adoration Chapel, at home on your favorite chair, or any other quiet, undisturbed place. Try not to think of anything specific, and forget the images that you have learned for God. Let him reveal himself to you. Note: this should always be done under the guidance of a spiritual director who has experience with contemplative prayer.
A helpful thing to know when first starting this type of prayer regularly is to expect all kinds of sounds, images and feelings starting to surface. Since, we never shut up long enough to think quietly, we never really experience what our subconscious contains. There are learned emotions and reactions that are stored in this part of thought.
I'll spare the psychological details, which I am not qualified to talk about, but the important thing to know is to expect there to be all kinds of images and feelings starting to surface and be purged from your subconscious.
Finally, once you are open to God's working, expect there to be immense peace and joy.
God will reveal his love to you in indescribable ways.
To put it in human terms, it's like two people madly in love with each other, that only need the company of the other; no words are needed at times between them, simply a big embrace. This will be enough for you too. The embrace of God is enough, nothing else is needed at that moment.
Remember, this only happens with a regular practice of being in God's presence in silence. What is important to know is that it's up to God to act in you as you need, not want.
If you can practice being with God in silence at least 20-30 minutes a day, it will be a clarifying experience and the gifts of the Holy Spirit will grace you in your personal prayer time and in your relationships. Nothing will matter except God's Will. Preferably, 20-30 minutes twice a day or 1 hour once a day would be the best, but start out small. God will meet you at your attempts and lead you to where he wants you. Just be open!
John Sena is a 29 yr. old husband and homeschooling father of four. John resides in Corpus Christi, TX and is employed at the Corpus Christi Army Depot. He also serves as a lay member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), as a missionary serving Our Lady for the sanctification of the temporal order. Follow his blog at calledtoloveblog.blogspot.com . You can contact him at johnsena512@gmail.com
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