I once visited Death Valley. It’s very quiet. At a spot called Zabriskie Point (pictured), I sat to pray. The silence was deafening. After a while, it was as if God became palpably near. Not because I did anything special. I just blocked out the noise—and listened.
This past year I’ve been reading about systemic racism and white privilege. I’ve learned how important it is for people in privileged positions (like me) to be quiet—and to listen to others. This isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a spiritual practice that nurtures humility.
This Lenten season, I am striving to talk at God less, and to be more present with God in silence. Centering Prayer (or Contemplative Prayer) helps me. Thomas Merton described it this way: “I have a very simple way of prayer. It is centered entirely on attention to the presence of God and to [God’s] will and [God’s] love. . . . Such is my ordinary way of prayer, or meditation.”[1] Or, in the words of the Psalmist: “Be still and know that I am God” (46:10).
Try some silence this season. Shut your phone off. Light a candle (or use this video). Make some coffee. Sit before the sunrise. Get into creation. Whatever helps you. …and, in silence, know the nearness of our God.
Rev. Troy Troftgruben, PhD
Associate Professor of New Testament
Wartburg Theological Seminary
[1] From a letter to Sufi Abdul Aziz, qtd in M. Basil Pennington, “Thomas Merton and Centering Prayer,” Studia Mertoniana 2 (2003): 2.
