Mtr Kelli Joyce

Dear friends in Christ,

During my first semester at seminary, I was more than a little dazed and confused. I was nineteen years old and a Baptist, and I was overwhelmed by all the new religious and social experiences I was having.

Maybe that's why I signed up for a silent retreat day put on by the Episcopalians. Maybe I did it because God wanted me to. But whatever the reason, I was the only non-Episcopalian who attended that Saturday retreat, led by one of the monks from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. The passage we focused on together all day was one of today's Psalms - Psalm 62.

For God alone my soul in silence waits; *
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, *
my stronghold, so that I shall not be greatly shaken.

We talked about creating spaces of silence in our souls, not just in our physical environments - it's possible for the heart to be noisy even when a room is quiet, or for someone to have absolute calm and peace within even in a chaotic space. (For me, listening to sung Compline or Evensong can be one way of finding inner silence. I let the beautiful music wash over me, and seek to quiet my thoughts so that I can simply be prayerfully present as the choir sings prayers on behalf of the congregation.)

We also talked about what it means to wait for God. It's easy to get caught up in the desire to do things for God, and for God's people - and it's wonderful to do good things! But we also need time in quiet, praying and waiting. My instinct is to get impatient when I pray if I cannot immediately tell that something is "happening." But sometimes the thing that needs to "happen" is for us to learn patience and wait for God.

I invite you to try to find time for intentional, prayerful silence this week. It doesn't have to be for long - even a few minutes can be quite powerful. Imagine silence as one way of making a gift to God of our time and our attention. Imagine silence like the process of clearing and tilling a field, creating a space that is empty, but full of potential for life and growth.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli