Judith Valente's Blog: Mindfulness in the Age of Twitter - Posts Tagged "silence"

I'm thankful to have been interviewed about How to Live by Niala Boodhoo today on Illinois Public Media's "The 21st" radio show.

Here's a link to the entire hour. My interview starts at 17:00 minutes. https://will.illinois.edu/player/audi...

Here are some things I mention:
We’re talking too much at and over each other, but we’re not listening enough to each other. St. Benedict asks us to listen with the ear of the heart. That’s something that I’m pretty concerned about in our culture.

On listening with the ear of the art: "I think that means each person who comes into our life brings something to us, whether we recognize it or not. The idea of hospitality goes hand in hand with listening in the Benedictine world. Everyone we encounter has some gift, which may at first appear hidden. I think this is relevant about our discussion about immigration and refugees in our country.
It’s a misconception that monasteries were a place that walled themselves off from the rest of the world. That’s not completely true. The doors of the monasteries then, and now, remain open to guests."

"There was always a position in the monastery called the Porter. His job was to greet guests. He was to say one of two things: “Thanks be to God” or “Your blessing please” whenever anyone knocked on the door. I think those are such interesting greetings.
They both say they’re expecting good in the encounter with the guest. We’ve almost turned that around today. We see the other as a threat. That’s completely in contrast to the monastic value of listening and caring for the other."

One line that’s really interesting is where he says.” Be the first to show respect to the other one another’s weakness and behavior.” That is the most counter-cultural line in The Rule and the one that’s most necessary for what we are encountering in our public discourse. If you take anything away from monastic life, you still have to keep community. It’s really interesting about how they make decisions by consensus.

"Here’s what’s so interesting about consensus and what I think we need so much in our society — Once the decision is made, everybody pulls in the same direction, everybody tries to make it work."

"I’m a journalist and we’re covered so much on the affordable care act, health care reform. Think about what would have happened in this country if we had tried to improve the act, instead of trying to tear it apart. It’s that kind of thing. People in a Community understand that it’s the community that’s what’s important and you have to move forward together. "

"Silence really makes you accompany yourself in your journey in life. When you don’t have the distractions of your cell phone, email, and social media, who’s there? You, and for those of us who believe, we would say it’s the divine. It’s often in those moments of silence I come face to face we things I need to confront. I get inspiration. All of a sudden in the silence, the answer comes."

Silence is a fast disappearing commodity in our world. If it were traded on a stock exchange, its share price might land somewhere between that of Apple and Bitcoin.

Silence forces us to be alone with our true self and with the one whom the poet Edward Hirsch calls, “the Great Alone,” the God who speaks with no known voice, but as Elijah found, whose voice is heard in the silence.

A few years ago, a young man named Greg Hindy decided to walk from New Hampshire to California – in silence. If he needed to communicate, he would write what he wanted to say in a pocket-sized notepad. His story was chronicled in a powerful documentary called In Pursuit of Silence by filmmakers Patrick Shen and Cassidy Hall, whom I met this past July on a visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Hindy writes, “To gain perspective on your life, you have to step back, and then step back again.” A Zen teacher points out in the film that from the millions of years humans lived close to nature, we still retain the capacity to “feel silence in the body.” And as a U.S. park ranger says, “If we lose our capacity for deep listening, we lose an essential piece of who we are.”

To be sure, there are times when silence is not the appropriate response. There are times for speaking up and speaking out. It remains a great stain of sin that the Catholic hierarchy kept silent for so long about the abuse of children and teens by its priests (as we have seen this week in the report on several Pennslyvania dioceses). We sin when we do not condemn the demonizing by our fellow countrymen of an entire immigrant group, or of people who follow a particular religion. Sometimes it’s not so much my sins of commission I worry about, but my sins of omission, not being there for others when they need me, not speaking out enough when evil needs to stop.

I like to think of silence as orienting us toward right action. It is the pause between thought and action, the element that gives greater gravitas and meaning to the words we do speak. In silence, we rediscover our inner world. We encounter a truth heard only in the heart. Once there, we open a space where God can discover us.

This week, how can we practice greater esteem for silence? After silent contemplation, what do we feel called to speak up about?

Thanks to Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson, and Carl McColman for interviewing me in their "Encountering Silence" podcast. http://encounteringsilence.com/catego...

Few people have spoken with as much moral clarity about the spiritual illness afflicting our country than Benedictine sister and author Joan Chittister. Oprah Winfrey recently interviewed Sister Joan about her latest book “The Time Is Now.” This is must listening and reading for all of us who care out the soul of America.

We are in a “crossover moment,” according to Sister Joan, traveling without a moral compass. We need only consider the children who have died in detention on our southern border; the relentless gun violence in our public places, not to mention the culture of lies in our public discourse and increasing disrespect for the rule of law.

Sister Joan calls this “a complete collapse and crisis of American values.” And what are those values? Compassionate respect for others. Character as a crucial component of leadership. Striving for the common good. All themes stressed in the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict. All still cogent to a well-functioning (and, dare I say, Christian) society today.

One of the worse evils in such a time, Sister Joan points out, is to remain silent.

I recently watched a History Channel documentary on the rise of the Third Reich. Even some German Jews initially supported Hitler’s grand promises to rebuild the economy and make Germany “great again.” A majority of the German people wasn’t responsible for the racist laws that led to abductions, beatings, arrests, and ultimately to the death camps. The vast majority was guilty of keeping silent.

Sister Joan calls on all of us to be not merely churchgoers, but prophets. A prophet, she notes, speaks truth to lies. A prophet says no to the abuse of other human beings based on their skin color or their passport designation. No, to the degradation of our natural resources. No, to the concentration of wealth and power among the few. No, to national self-centeredness, but yes to mercy, compassion, and to life.

She reminds us too that Jesus -- the ultimate healer -- was also the ultimate prophet. Jesus contended, contested, confronted and challenged those who put the good of the few ahead of the common good.

Sister Joan’s words challenge me to speak up, to work harder for the kind of country I want America to be. She recommends meeting with our neighbors, going to community events and meetings, and keeping ourselves informed.

I would also suggest that we start demanding to talk about these issues within our churches and to hear about them from the pulpit.

As a daily Mass-goer, I’ve heard three homilies about abortion law changes in recent weeks. (Chittister accuses many churches of being “pro-birth,” rather than pro-life). I’ve heard nothing about the deaths at the border, the recent deployment of additional U.S. troops and military equipment to the Middle East, or the growing evidence of corruption within our government.
I’ve heard nothing about the need to improve our health care system or the growing gap between rich and poor.

A storm is gathering, Sister Joan warns. We can close our eyes and hope it won’t hit us. Or, we can work to force that storm to change course. We’re not on this earth simply to win, she notes, but to love, to grow and to leave the world a better place. That’s when everyone wins. How can I begin this week?

The Time Is Now

Here is a link to Oprah’s recent interview with Sister Joan. https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey...