The Monastery Door

This week I will spending three days in silence on a personal retreat. I will be going to a nearby facility that resonates with me and allows me to surrender into silence. I do this from time to time, although not as much as I would like. I will be taking nothing with me but some clothes, toiletries and my journal. I will be spending my time in prayer, reflection and meditation but mostly I will just be quiet and listen.

I have found that being in silence with no TV, radio, phones or even conversation with others creates an inner environment which helps to quiet the mental sea. The mind is like an ocean that is always in motion. The waves can be experienced as joy or pain. Sometimes the waves are gentle, sometimes strong. Sometimes the gentle winds of life blowing through us only cause ripples. Sometimes the waves are like a storm surge, crashing into everything and everyone that happens to be in front of us. Being in silence allows the waters of the mind to be still so one can simply look within to the depths.

Being in silence also helps us to redefine our storyline. Our ‘storyline’ is our interpretation of the events of our life, not the events themselves. I think our quality of life and the quality of our relationships with family and friends can be affected by how attached to our own personal storyline we are. If I were to be completely honest with myself, I would have to admit that there are times when I carry my storyline like a shield or even like a banner. I allow my “perceived wounds” to define me, to dictate how I relate to my family, my friends, my work, myself and Spirit. But we are more than our wounds. We are even more than our gifts and talents. We are more than anything that exists in this relative experience. Being in silence allows us to touch that part of us that is more, which then can transform our interpretations and give us insights into the direction we must go, provided we are willing to let our old interpretations go.

The silent retreat is always a challenge in surrender and listening. But the most challenging part of all is opening the monastery door. For it is on the threshold of the monastery door that I must surrender and lay down my storyline, my interpretations of the events of my life, if only for these few days. Only then will I be able to truly listen, to hear what Spirit would have me know, instead of projecting what I wish to hear. I must lay down my storyline, step over it, close the door behind me and walk into the silence.

At the end of the retreats when I open the door to leave, I always look down to see if my old storyline is still there. It never is.

Back to the Inspiration

Copyright Changing Times Gifts © 2003