Practice from Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton
From Chapter 1, “Beyond Words”
“A good journey begins with knowing where we are and being willing to go somewhere else.” – Richard Rohr
Practice:
Settle into a comfortable physical position and take three deep breaths – inhale deeply and exhale slowly. As you breathe and become quiet, allow that which is usually unknown and unnamed within you to surface. Notice the dynamics that are drawing you deeper into solitude and silence at this time in your life. What is happening inside you and in your relationship with God right now that seems to be inviting you into solitude and silence? Do the words desperation and desire capture what you are experiencing, or is there another word or phrase that more accurately expresses what is going on in your interior world?
Allow these inner experiences and dynamics to come to the surface; feel them, name them, sit with them, express them to God if you wish. Today, let it be enough to create space for yourself and those things that are stirring in the interior places of your soul. Listen to them not as experiences to be avoided but as invitations to open yourself to God in new ways. When your time allotted for silence (10 minutes or longer) is over, thank God for his presence with you during this time of noticing.
