Category Archives: Silence

Daily Riches: Detachment from the Insatiable Self (Eugene Peterson and Wanda Jackson) *

Posted on by under Busyness, Detachment and Attachment, Ego Issues, Prayer, Silence

“I know it takes time to develop a life of prayer; set-aside, disciplined, deliberate time. It isn’t accomplished on the run…. I know I can’t be busy and pray at the same time. I can be active and pray; I can work and pray; but I cannot be busy and pray. I cannot be inwardly rushed, distracted or dispersed. In order to pray I have to be paying more attention to God than to what people are saying to me; to God than to my clamoring ego. Usually, for that to happen there must be a deliberate withdrawal from the noise of the day, a disciplined detachment from the insatiable self.” Eugene Peterson

“As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Psalm 42:1,2

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Are you pursuing a life with God while you’re “on the run?” while you’re “busy … inwardly rushed, [or] distracted?” If so, is that satisfying your thirst for God?
  • It’s been said, that if you don’t have a plan for your ego, your ego has a plan for you. Do you have a plan for dealing with your “clamoring ego” – for detaching from your “insatiable self?”
  • Does your plan include a “deliberate withdrawal from the noise of the day” so that you can speak with and hear from God?

“Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.”

__________

For More: The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson

_________________________________________________

The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Reigning in a Critical Spirit (Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Henri Nouwen) *

Posted on by under Loving Well, Silence

“Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words. It is certain that the spirit of self-justification can be overcome only by the Spirit of grace; nevertheless, isolated thoughts of judgment can be curbed and smothered by never allowing them the right to be uttered…. Thus it must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“If we could control our tongues,
we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.
And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go,
even though the winds are strong.
In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
…People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.
It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father,
and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.
And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.
Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”
James 3:2-10

“It is a good discipline to wonder in each new situation if people wouldn’t be better served by our silence than by our words.” Henri Nouwen

 Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Think about your conversations at church. Do you tend to say whatever occurs to you? Could you determine never to speak in defense of yourself or in judgment of another?
  • Does your congregation have a “decisive rule … that each individual is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him?”
  • Both James and Bonhoeffer admit the difficulty of controlling our words. Even so, both men seem to suggest that we will control ourselves by controlling our words. Can you control your words?

Abba, may my words be surrounded by much silence and informed by much love.

__________

For More: Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

_________________________________________________

These “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and he seeks after you. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Limitations of Words (Hermann Hesse, Ernesto Cardinal, Ruth Hayley Barton, Mother Teresa) *

Posted on by under Silence, Solitude

“When a person has grown old and has done his all, it is his task peacefully to make friends with death. He does not need other people. He knows them and has seen enough of them. What he needs is peace. It is not seemly to seek out such a person, to talk to him, to torment him with your chatter. At the gateway to his home the proper thing is to pass by, as if nobody lived there.” Hermann Hesse –  This was the notice on the door of his house upon award of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“Whoever loves God wishes to be alone. Like newlyweds who do not want to have their intimacy interrupted by outsiders, those who have felt the love of God retire into silence and solitude.” Ernesto Cardenal

“In solitude and silence, we become quiet enough to hear a voice that is not our own.” Ruth Haley Barton

“… God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.” Mother Teresa

“… fools multiply words.”  Ecclesiastes. 10:14
“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
but he who restrains his lips is wise.”  Proverbs 10:19
“The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint.”  Proverbs 17:27a

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Are you aware enough of the needs of others to know when to “pass by?” not to “torment them with your chatter?”  to “restrain your lips?”
  • Have you ever felt like a “newlywed” with God, wanting to “retire into silence and solitude” with him? If not, why not?
  • There is great value in silence. By silence we learn the limitations of speech. Are you able to refrain from words in order to let yourself hear “words that are not your own?”  for someone else to hear God’s words?

Abba, today I will hallow your name by leaving enough silent spaces to hear from you, waiting for my turn to speak, talking less and listening more, and speaking only out of love.

__________

For More:  Abide in Love by Ernesto Cardenal

_________________________________________________

The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Solitude and the Chattering Monkeys (Henri Nouwen, Pope Francis and David K. Flowers) *

Posted on by under Contemplative Prayer, Silence, Solitude, Stillness

“In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding; no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me—naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken—nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. But that is not all. As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed begin to show their ugly faces. I give long, hostile speeches to my enemies and dream lustful dreams in which I am wealthy, influential, and very attractive—or poor, ugly, and in need of immediate consolation.  … The task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone.” Henri Nouwen

“In the history of salvation,
neither in the clamour nor in the blatant,
but the Shadows and the Silence
are the places in which God chose
to reveal himself to humankind.”
Pope Francis

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

Moving From Head to Heart

  • Do you avoid solitude? If so, why?
  • Are you expecting to find God, or be found by him in crowd’s “clamour?”
  •  Are you willing to “persevere” in your solitude until the “monkeys in the banana tree” give up and leave you alone?

“The world is full of people wanting to solve [its] problems. But the world would profit much more if people would first confront their own anxieties and the things that cause them 1) to have to fill every silence with meaningless chatter, 2) to stay constantly busy, and 3) to do anything to avoid being still.” David K. Flowers

Abba, deliver me from these tactics.

__________

For More: The Essential Henri Nouwen

_________________________________________________

The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in less than 400 words. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Achilles Heel Of Evangelicalism (Ruth Haley Barton)

Posted on by under Silence, Solitude, Stillness

“…I believe silence is the most challenging, the most needed and the least experienced spiritual discipline among evangelical Christians today. It is much easier to talk about it and read about it than to actually become quiet. We are a very busy, wordy and heady faith tradition. Yet we are desperate to find ways to open ourselves to our God who is, in the end, beyond all of our human constructs and human agendas. With all of our emphasis on theology and Word, cognition and service–and as important as these are–we are starved for mystery, to know this God as One who is totally Other and to experience reverence in his presence. We are starved for intimacy, to see and feel and know God in the very cells of our being. We are starved for rest, to know God beyond what we can do for him. We are starved for quiet, to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God himself.”  Ruth Haley Barton

“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord,
for the Lord is about to pass by.’
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake came a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire came [lit. “the sound of sheer silence”].
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face
and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.”
I Kings 19:11-13

Moving From Head to Heart

  • Do you feel the need for silence? Have you thought about how practicing silence could be a beneficial “spiritual discipline?”
  • Is your faith tradition “very busy, wordy and heady?” Is it characterized by “theology and Word, cognition and service?” Are you starved for something more: for rest, quiet, intimacy?
  • Will the speed level and noise level of your life allow you to hear God if he comes to you in “sheer silence?” Are you willing to make some changes? to carve out some silent places?

Abba, help me as I seek out silence, to attend to you there in love, and receive there your love for me.

________________________

 Thomas Merton expresses my heart for Daily Riches: “If I dare, in these few words, to ask you some direct and personal questions, it is because I address them as much to myself as to you. It is because I am still able to hope that a civil exchange of ideas can take place between two persons — that we have not yet reached the stage where we are all hermetically sealed, each one in the collective arrogance and despair of his own herd.” I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. (Psalm 90:14) . I appreciate your interest! – Bill

Daily Riches: Search Your Heart … And Be Silent (Soren Kierkegaard, Isaac of Ninevah, and Brigid Herman) *

Posted on by under contemplative virtues, Loving Listening, Silence

“Every man who delights in uttering a multitude of words, even though he says admirable things, is empty within.
If you love truth, be a lover of silence.”
Isaac of Ninevah

“The present state of the world, the whole of life, is diseased.
If I were a doctor and were asked for my advice, I would reply:
‘Create silence! Bring men to silence.
The Word of God cannot be heard in the noisy world of today.
Create silence.'”
Soren Kierkegaard

“The most formidable enemy of the spiritual life is self-deception
and if there is a better cure for self-deception than silence,
it has yet to be discovered.”
Brigid E. Herman

“Tremble and do not sin;
  when you are on your beds,
   search your hearts and be silent.”  
  Psalm 4:4

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Have you ever delighted in “uttering a multitude of words … even admirable things” – and then regretted it later? If so, what was it exactly that you regretted?
  • Most people find silence uncomfortable. What about you? What does your answer say about you?
  • Can you imagine “loving” silence? Why would you want to love silence?
  • Do you think the Word of God can be heard in the noisy world of today? Think first before you answer.

Abba, the ever-present noise without and the plague of flies within make finding and experiencing silence challenging – and all the more necessary. Please help me to search my heart in a silent place where I can be cured from my self-deception and escape the disease of my world.

__________

For More: The Ministry of Silence by Brigid E. Herman

_________________________________________________

“A faith without doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.” – Tim Keller   In these Daily Riches I hope to encourage “long reflection” rather than simplistic faith. Thanks for reading and sharing this daily blog! – Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Solitude and Silence in a World of Noise (George Orwell, Kathleen Norris and Peter Scazzero) *

Posted on by under Contemplation and Activism, Silence, Solitude

“It seemed to him that he knew exactly what it felt like to sit in a room like this, in an armchair beside an open fire with your feet in the fender and a kettle on the hob, utterly alone, utterly secure with nobody watching you, no voice pursuing you, no sound except the singing of the kettle and the friendly ticking of the clock. … To do anything that suggested a taste for solitude, even to go for a walk by yourself, was always slightly dangerous. There was a word for it in Newspeak: ownlife, it was called, meaning individualism and eccentricity.” George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-four 

“The ordinary, daily practice of silence
is a prophetic stance in our world of noise.
It is one of the greatest gifts we can offer the world.”
Kathleen Norris

“Intentional silence serves as a necessary
and valuable counterweight
to a society filled
with thoughtless and excessive words.”
Peter Scazzero

“Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”   Psalm 4:4

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Do you know what it feels like to “sit in a room … utterly alone … [with] no sound?” Do you seek out or avoid such experiences?
  • In Orwell’s created world, to have your ownlife was considered “slightly dangerous.” Look at Scazzero’s quote again and consider why that would be.
  • Do you make the experience of solitude and silence a priority in your life? Is it reflected in some plan or schedule? If not, why not?

Abba, as I seek you in the silence of solitude, may I encounter reality, experience sanity and discover wisdom. I want to have my ownlife, not one choreographed for me by those who control the noise and nonsense – the disinformation, the mythology – of my world.

_________________________________________________

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against.” (Malcolm X)  I love these words of Malcolm X , but I don’t agree with everything he’s said, written or done. The same is true for those who show up on the pages of Daily Riches. Eventually, writers and teachers from many diverse backgrounds will make an appearance here, and I offer their insights to you without any kind of vetting for “orthodoxy.” Sometimes we learn the most from those with whom we differ, and to turn only to those who are always right or reliable would eliminate everyone. My working assumption in Daily Riches is that the spirit of God will lead you into all truth. So I hope you’ll read, seeking to have your “truth” challenged, critiqued, and improved – and that a priori you’ll be for the truth no matter who tells it. That’s difficult but always worth the effort. Thanks for reading and sharing my daily blog. Bill (Psalm 90:14)

 

Daily Riches: Being the Beloved of God (Henri Nouwen) *

Posted on by under Being the Beloved, Loving Listening, Prayer, Silence, Simplicity, Solitude

“Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, ‘Prove that you are a good person.’ Another voice says, ‘You’d better be ashamed of yourself.’ There also is a voice that says, ‘Nobody really cares about you,’ and one that says, ‘Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.’ But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.’ That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen. That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us ‘my Beloved.'”  Henri Nouwen

“The silence of solitude is nothing but dead silence when it does not make us alert for a new voice sounding from beyond all human chatter.” Nouwen

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is Christ’s love,
and to know by experience this love that surpasses knowledge —
that you may be filled to the measure
of all the fullness from God.”
Ephesians 3:17b-19 (my trans.)

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • I’ve heard all these other insistent, noisy voices, with their deceiving and devastating counsel. Have you?
  • Just how “wide and long and high and deep is Christ’s love” for you? Do you actually “know by experience” about God’s love for you, or is this something you merely believe or confess?
  • Are you spending sufficient time in the silence of solitude to hear for yourself that you are God’s “beloved?” If not, what specifically can you do about that?

Abba, may I be rooted and grounded in Christ’s unfailing love for me, comprehending that which surpasses knowledge as I experience it in the deepest part of who I am. Help me to protect silent spaces where I can listen to your voice.

__________

For More: The Still, Small Voice of Love by Henri Nouwen

_________________________________________________

Thomas Merton expresses my heart for Daily Riches: “If I dare, in these few words, to ask you some direct and personal questions, it is because I address them as much to myself as to you. It is because I am still able to hope that a civil exchange of ideas can take place between two persons — that we have not yet reached the stage where we are all hermetically sealed, each one in the collective arrogance and despair of his own herd.” I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. (Psalm 90:14) . I appreciate your interest! – Bill

Daily Riches: Responding to Transcendence with Silence and Stillness (Robert Frost) *

Posted on by under Contemplation, Hurry Sickness, Silence, Stillness, The Sacrament of the Present Moment
“Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
 .
“My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
 .
“He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.” –
 “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” –  Robert Frost
.
“Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!
I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness.”  Psalm 55:6,7
.
Moving From the Heart to the Head
  • Have you ever experienced something this profound and beautiful in nature? Where? How long ago? Did you seek it out, or did it “just happen” like in this poem?
  • Is it the horse or the driver that “thinks it’s queer” to stop near these dark woods? Is there “some mistake?” How often do you find yourself unable to stop and really experience something special because you have “miles to go before [you] sleep?”
  • As the speaker hurries on to keep his promises, what are we to imagine he is feeling? What is the take-away message of the poem?
  • The horse “gives his harness bells a shake”, and the driver moves on. What does it take to convince you to move on and attend to business when you’re experiencing some kind of transcendence? What does your answer say about you?
“Lord, help me to do one thing at a time today, without rushing or hurrying. Help me to savor the sacred in all I do …empower me to pause today as I move from one activity to the next.” – Peter Scazzero

__________

For More: Poetry: A Pocket Anthology by R. S. Gwynn

_________________________________________________

“Then suddenly it happened, I lost every dime, but I’m richer by far, with a satisfied mind.” (“Satisfied Mind”, lyrics by Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes) Often it’s in our most painful losses that we find what really matters, and the satisfaction found in God alone. I hope that Daily Riches will help you to be “richer by far” as you grow in such satisfaction. Thanks for reading and sharing Daily Riches!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: The Life of Silence and the “Secret Vice” of Solitude (Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges and Ann Morrow Lindberg)

Posted on by under Contemplation, Silence, Solitude

“Retirement is the laboratory of the spirit; interior solitude and silence are its two wings. All great works were prepared in the desert, including the redemption of the world. The precursors, the followers, the Master Himself, all obeyed or have to obey one and the same law. Prophets, apostles, preachers, martyrs, pioneers of knowledge, inspired artists in every art, ordinary men and the Man-God, all pay tribute to loneliness, to the life of silence, to the night.” Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges

“As far as the search for silence and solitude is concerned, we live in a negative atmosphere, as invisible, as all pervasive and as enervating as high humidity in an August afternoon. The world does not understand today, in either man or woman, the need to be alone. How inexplicable it seems! Anything else will be accepted as a better excuse. If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement, or a shopping expedition, that time will be accepted as inviolable. But if one says, ‘I cannot come because it is my hour to be alone’, one is considered rude, egotistical, or strange. What a commentary on our civilization, when being alone is considered suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices solitude – like a secret vice.”   Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“After [Jesus] had dismissed them,
he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
Later that night, he was there alone …”
Matthew 14:23

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Have you experienced the kind of loneliness and silence that is the preparation for “all great works?” Is there any sense in which your life is a “life of silence?”
  • Do you understand the “need to be alone?” Do you practice solitude? If so, do you have to hide it from others like a “secret vice?”
  • It’s a “commentary on our civilization” that making time to be alone to care for yourself and seek out God should be considered “rude, egotistical or strange.” Are you determined to decide for yourself and leave the crowd behind if necessary?

Abba, teach me to nourish my spirit in the laboratory of the spirit which is solitude.

__________

For More: Gift From the Sea by Ann Morrow Lindberg

_________________________________________________

Thomas Merton expresses my heart for Daily Riches: “If I dare, in these few words, to ask you some direct and personal questions, it is because I address them as much to myself as to you. It is because I am still able to hope that a civil exchange of ideas can take place between two persons — that we have not yet reached the stage where we are all hermetically sealed, each one in the collective arrogance and despair of his own herd.” I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. (Psalm 90:14) . I appreciate your interest! – Bill

Daily Riches: Seeing Solitude as Intolerable (Blaise Pascal and Friedrich Nietzsche) *

Posted on by under Silence, Solitude, Stillness

“Man finds nothing so intolerable as to be in a state of complete rest, without passions without occupation, without diversion, without effort. Then he faces his nullity, loneliness, inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, emptiness. And at once there well up from the depths of his soul boredom, gloom, depression, chagrin, resentment, despair.” Blaise Pascal

“When we are quiet and alone, we fear that something will be whispered in our ears,
and so we hate the quiet, and dull our senses in society.” Friedrich Nietzsche

“I have become like a bird alone on a roof.” Psalm 102:7

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Do you find it “intolerable” when you’re alone with nothing to do and nothing to distract you?  to be “in a state of complete rest?” Do you “dull your senses in society?”
  • This experience seems pretty unpleasant, sometimes even dangerous (“despair”), and yet, isn’t Pascal commending it to us, and Nietzsche warning us about what we do? Why do you suppose that is?
  • Are you willing to face your “nullity [nothingness], loneliness, inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, [and] emptiness … in a state of complete rest?” What plan can you make to begin to try that? Who do you know who can help guide or encourage you?

Abba, I want to own my neediness and helplessness before you, and not dull my senses with vain distractions. Teach me to come into your presence and be at rest.

__________

For More: Pensees by Blaise Pascal

_________________________________________________

These Daily Riches are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to give you something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others as we seek to find our satisfaction in our unfailingly loving God. (Psalm 90:14) . I appreciate your interest! – Bill

Daily Riches: Loving the One In Pain (Parker Palmer and Heidi Hewett)

Posted on by under Ego Issues, Loving Listening, Loving Well, Silence

“One of the hardest things we must do sometimes is to be present to another person’s pain without trying to ‘fix’ it, to simply stand respectfully at the edge of that person’s mystery and misery. Standing there, we feel useless and powerless, which is exactly how a depressed person feels–and our unconscious need as Job’s comforters is to reassure ourselves that we are not like the sad soul before us. In an effort to avoid those feelings, I give advice, which sets me, not you, free.” Parker Palmer

“When we hold space for one another, we are fully present to the other’s pain–to their mystery and misery. We are not trying to rush in to fill the circle of discomfort a friend or acquaintance feels, but instead we are fully present in the moment and in the sharing. We are witnesses to human experience. Holding space goes so much farther than offering words of advice. Our silence is the act of holding someone up, without words. Silence in this context is beautiful and non-judgmental, and it goes so much farther in offering comfort than our words could ever hope to offer. Holding space is such a hard practice at first, because it is in our nature to want to rush into the center of the hurt and to do something about it. What if we didn’t rush so much? What if we listened and sat and held our friends close with our hearts? How would this revolutionize our relationships? I have a suspicion that we would be more apt to listen and to be fully present in the moment–and this may make all the difference in the world!” Heidi Hewett

When Job’s three friends … heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2:11-13

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Have you ever experienced “holding someone up without words”, not trying to “fill the circle of discomfort” with your opinions and advice?
  • We’re usually very hard on Job’s friends, often forgetting that they started by sitting in silence with Job for “seven days and seven nights!” Have you ever done anything like that? had anyone do it for you?
  • Have you regretted later the words of comfort you offered someone? What could you have done differently?

Abba, when I’m feeling useless and powerless to help another, when unconsciously I want to separate myself from my suffering friend with fear-based words, help me to choose silence, abiding in the sacred space of our mutual powerlessness, enduring discomfort, looking to you, powerfully offering love.

__________

For More: Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer

_________________________________________________

Thanks for reading!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Change the World, but First Yourself (David K. Flowers, Thomas Merton, Socrates) *

Posted on by under Busyness, Change Yourself First, Humility, Silence, Social Justice, Stillness, The Call to Change

“You don’t need to fix your friends or family. You don’t need to solve all the problems that confront you. If you can simply learn to not be controlled by fear — your own or that of others — you will be a non-anxious presence in the lives of others, and there is nothing they need more. So how do you do this? By confronting your own anxieties and fears head-on. An anxious person cannot be a non-anxious presence, obviously. The world is full of people wanting to solve all the problems of the world. But the world would profit much more if people would first confront their own anxieties and the things that cause them 1) to have to fill every silence with meaningless chatter, 2) to stay constantly busy, and 3) to do anything to avoid being still.”  David K. Flowers

“He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity, and capacity to love, will not have anything to give to others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressivity, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means.” Thomas Merton

“Let him who would move the world, first move himself.” ~ Socrates

“First get rid of the log in your own eye;
then you will see well enough
to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Jesus in Matthew 7:5

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • It’s much easier to focus on “fixing” another person (a spouse, a child, a friend) than to look within. In many instances, Jesus wants us to leave the other person to him. Is there someone in your life right now that you’re trying to “fix?”
  • The most effective way to help others is for us to bring a “non-anxious presence” (“our best selves”) into our relationships with them. Do you regularly have a non-anxious presence?
  • Can you spend time before God in silence and stillness? Are you too busy to be without anxiety? How can you have a more “non-anxious presence?”

Abba, I know I need to slow down, be still, and be more quiet before you and others. Help me learn to rest in your love – so I can bring my very best self to others.

__________

For More: Living Truthfully by David K. Flowers

_________________________________________________

Thanks for reading!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Contemplation (John Eudes Bamberger) *

Posted on by under Contemplation, Death Daily, Hurry Sickness, Learning Your Proper Place, Meditation, Silence

“When you are faithful in [silent meditation] … you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way.  Because in this useless hour in which you do nothing ‘important’ or urgent you have to come to terms with your basic powerlessness, you have to feel your fundamental inability to solve your or other people’s problems or to change the world. When you do not avoid that experience but live through it, you will find out that your many projects, plans, and obligations become less urgent, crucial, and important and lose their power over you.” John Eudes Bamberger

“Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.”
Psalm 131:2

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Are you able to go to the place the Psalmist writes about, where your soul is quieted and you experience great love, peace, protection, and acceptance from your heavenly parent?
  • Do you have a deep sense of your own “basic powerlessness … to solve your or other people’s problems?” Do you attempt to “avoid that feeling” or try to “live through it?” What is the result?
  • In the press of a busy day, time spent sitting quietly before the Lord can seem “useless” or like “doing nothing.” Have you established a daily practice to keep from skipping such time so that you can more powerfully sense his love for you and your own limitations and needs?

Abba, I pray that the false urgency of my world would lose it’s grip on me as I linger in your presence. I pray that, more and more, I would sense your great love towards me. Help me to breathe in that love, and then exhale it out as my gift, and your gift, to my world.

__________

For More: The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen

_________________________________________________

The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to provide you with something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)

Daily Riches: Solitude – Seek It or Fly From It? (Richard Baxter and Jurgen Moltmann) *

Posted on by under contemplative virtues, Silence, Solitude

“We seldom read of God’s appearing

by Himself or His angels
or to any of His prophets or saints in a throng
but frequently when they are alone.”
Richard Baxter

“… what are virtues for the mystic are torment and sickness for the modern man or woman: estrangement, loneliness, silence, solitude, inner emptiness, deprivation, poverty, not-knowing, and so forth …. What the monks sought for in order to find God, modern men and women fly from as if it were the devil.” Jurgen Moltmann

“…Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them,
he went up on a mountainside to pray.” Mark 6:45,46
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them,
whom he also designated apostles:”  Luke 6:12
“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him
and went up onto a mountain to pray.”  Luke 9:28

Moving From the Head to the Heart

  • Why do you think God most often makes himself known to someone who is alone?
  • Are you regularly alone before God, or would that represent “torment and sickness” for you?
  • What plan can you make to regularly escape the “throng” as Jesus did, and give God more of your undivided attention?

Abba, help me to learn to leave the crowd behind and make myself available to you – not focusing on my problems or needs, but simply giving you my affection and undivided attention.

__________

For More: Experiences of God by Jurgen Moltmann

_________________________________________________

The “Daily Riches” from RicherByFar are for your encouragement as you seek after God, and as he seeks after you. My goal is to provide you with something of uncommon value each day in 400 words or less. I hope you’ll follow my blog, and share it with others. I appreciate your interest!  –  Bill (Psalm 90:14)