In Step With the SpiritSample

I think everyone should attend at least one silent retreat a year. I lead silent retreats just so I can go! The following are some guidelines to help you embrace the gift of silence. Feel free to use them – and plan a retreat for yourself and others.

1. Find a retreat center that is affordable enough for everyone to have a room of his or her own. Catholic monasteries are a good place to start. Sometimes we just borrow the church on a Saturday and look for quiet places to pray.

2. Tell those attending to pack comfortable clothes and leave behind their connections to the outside world—cell phones, pagers, clocks, reading materials and especially their schedules.

3. Meet together as a group and discuss the guidelines for silence.

4. Decide how much time will be spent in silence.

5. Make sure there is a way of calling them to times of prayer, Scripture reading or group directives.

6. Provide Scripture, meditative readings and quotations on the subjects of silence, peace, prayer and contemplation. My favorite authors on these subjects are Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Mother Teresa, A.W. Tozer, and Thomas Merton.

7. Plan to eat together, but do not speak during meals. Bring quiet instrumental hymns and Christian music to play during that time. The quiet feels a little odd at first, but later there will be a tangible companionship in silence.

8. Direct the participants to begin their first moments of silence in a time of confession. Provide Scriptures that lead them to God’s forgiveness and healing. It is much easier to spend time with God when you have reconciled with him.

9. Release all expectations for the time of silence. There are times when God will reveal himself in a powerful way. There are other times when the greatest experience has been the quiet rest and peace that comes from having walked with God in silent companionship. The only real goal of a silent retreat is to “be still and know that he is God.” Everything else is a bonus.

10.Smile and greet each other with a wave, but remain in silence. Extended times of “listening” are rare in this world. E=mbrace the fact that we can speak to God and never utter a sound.

11. When the retreat is coming to a close, break the silence with a time of spoken prayer. Consider taking the Lord’s Supper together before you speak. Then spend some time allowing people to share what God has done for them during their time of silence.

12. Encourage each person to return home with a goal of creating times of silence in his or her daily life. We live in an overwhelmingly and increasingly noise-filled world. Silence is a gift we give our soul and an opportunity we give our Lord.

“Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon Him in yourself.” —Theresa of Avila