Be quiet and listen. What do you hear? Do you hear an aircraft overhead? Vehicles in the street outside? The air conditioning? Can you hear the compressor on the refrigerator? The fan of the computer? Most of the time these sounds fade into the background, but it’s amazing how acute one’s hearing gets when you sit down and attempt to pray. Especially when you attempt Contemplative Prayer.
Read MoreAs a teacher and writer, words are the primary tools with which I try to exert power over reality. I use words to impress people so that they will love me, to create an image of myself that is eloquent and thoughtful and thus worthy of appreciation and respect. I use words to curate an orderly understanding of the universe, to narrate my experiences in ways that make sense to me. Both internally and externally, then, I use words to create a sense of security for myself. It is not difficult to see the fragility of this security. Because my worth is so bound up in words, I feel great pressure to generate them. The idea of being reduced to silence – of not being able to find the right words – is terrifying.
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