Before you read this as fast as you can to the end, I’m going to invite you to a moment of silence. But before you act on my invitation I’m going to challenge you to do this for real. Put your phone aside, forward your phone to voicemail, turn off the TV, turn off the music and find somewhere that you can truly be alone and silent for one minute.
Are you ready to accept the challenge? If not, you might as well stop reading now. For those of you who are ready, begin your one minute of silence now.
Ah, yes silence…
Welcome back. This tiny little exercise in silence begins to illustrate one of the the biggest challenges we face today in our modern world. We are constantly bombarded by noise. At every turn, in every circumstance, at work, at home, in the car, when we are with the people we love. We have access to more information than ever before in human history literally at our fingertips. Not only do we have access to this information but our fancy devices are constantly reminding us, notifying us, alerting us and ultimately distracting us from being present.
Think about your moment of silence just a few seconds ago, if you really did it, and turned everything off and made sure that you were not interrupted, you might have found it difficult to quiet your mind. Maybe you found yourself thinking about everything you have to do today. Maybe you were consumed by a challenge you are facing at home. Maybe the project you’re working on kept invading your silence. Even when we do protect ourselves from outside influence the noise continues inside our minds.
I’m not sure about you but I have yet to meet someone who is satisfied with a mediocre life. Sure, you may think to yourself oh I know plenty of people who are comfortable where they’re at. But at some level, even they want more. And everyone’s definition of mediocre will be different. The fact of the matter is, we are here on this earth to be fully alive, not mediocre. The noise of this world keeps us in a state of mediocrity. It is up to you and me to break free from the noise.
God, our Father, created you and me with a very specific mission, unique and individual to us all. Our goal in life is to fulfill that mission. We have specific talents that will enable us to complete this mission. We have access to a superabundance of grace that will enable us to complete our mission. We have access to everything we need, all of us.
However, when the noise of the world consumes us, we become immobilized. We become incapable of fulfilling our mission. We become satisfied with the status quo. We are unable to take advantage of grace. We become lukewarm. We might even find ourselves fighting depression. My friend, this is no place for a child of God.
So, how do we break free from the noise of the world? How can we utilize our talents to the best of our ability? How can we take advantage of the superabundance of grace that surrounds us? How can we be fully alive?
It begins with desire. A desire to be close to God. If we have the desire, we must commit to living a strong interior life. And then, even if we are living an interior life, it is truly important to take a break from our everyday life and make a good retreat.
These days there tend to be a lot of options to make a retreat. Heck, even big corporations have executive retreats. However, if you are at all interested in being fully alive, I submit to you making a silent retreat is of paramount importance.
A silent retreat like the ones offered here, will provide you with the opportunity to break free from the noise of the world. They can provide you with a few days spent deeply in the presence of God and an opportunity to pray and reflect on our life’s direction. A break from the rat race, yes. But even more than that, an opportunity to spend time with God alone. Even though the retreat is a group experience, the goal of the silence, is to be alone with God. This is how we begin to speak with him and grow to know him and to discover with greater clarity his mission for us.
Consider this an invitation. An invitation from God our father. An invitation to spend a few days with him in silence–free from the noise of the world.