I found it to be difficult. In the silence, I think about
the NCAA basketball tournament, the workout I’m going to try to get done at the
YMCA, the tasks I need to get accomplished that afternoon, and 1000 other
things. As soon as I drive one distraction from my mind, another takes its
place. Some days I can get really quiet and centered so that I give God my full
attention. Other days, I spend 30 minutes reaching for God with one hand and fending
off competing thoughts with the other.
This practice takes practice. This very morning,
frustrated, I started writing in my journal about my frustration. I was drawn
to Lamentations 3:23. God’s mercy is new every morning. God always has more
grace to give, and I always need it, and He always gives it. So I thought, if
God gives me grace, I’ll extend grace to myself. I finished a distracted 30
minutes. Tomorrow, I’ll try again.
That’s my word for you. Try again. And again. And again.
Relationships demand commitment and sticktoitiveness. In silence, we tune out
other stimuli in order to give God our full attention. Learning to be still;
learning to hear with the heart; it all takes effort and trial and error. If
today’s effort in silent mediation faltered, try again tomorrow.
“It is good to sit alone
in silence” (Lamentations 3:27). My prayer is first, you’ll try this, silent
prayer, every day, 30 minutes; and second, as you do, you’ll discover why the
writer of Lamentations says this is “good.” It is because the solitude and
silence are where we meet God.
