Saturday, August 3
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Hope Church
Presented by the Hope Church Worship, Prayer and Spirituality Ministry
What is a Quiet Day?
- A quiet day is an opportunity for people to cease the “doing” and focus on just “being” for a period of time.
- A quiet day is a contemplative practice which invites participants to turn their gaze inward to ask what might be happening for them at a deeper “soul” level.
- A quiet day allows participants time to rest in God’s presence and be reminded that they are indeed loved.
- A quiet day may begin and end with a contemplative practice or present a focus which is intended to help people in slowing and being.
Why would people attend a Quiet Day?
People of all faiths and beliefs attend quiet days for a number of reasons. Predominately, people attend quiet days because they feel the desire to connect with their inner life and create a space for listening for God’s Presence and guidance. They recognize the need to simply stop for a while and attend to their inner senses. They may wish to re-connect with God, to seek inner wisdom in the making of a decision, or to simply rest in God.
Quiet days provide a safe and nurturing space for people to simply be.
While it’s possible, of course, for people to create space for silence and listening to God in their own homes, there’s a certain quality to silence that is created in community with others. There’s also benefit in allowing a host or hostess to facilitate the movements of the day in such a way that participants are able to simply enter the flow of the moments and rest without concern for the transitions.
SILENCE
What is silence?
While silence can be defined as the absence of noise, in the creation of a quiet day, it involves a little more. Silence is an invitation to turn our attention from the outside world to the inner world of our being. While this can be quite challenging for people, it will reap many rewards. Some people can’t imagine that they could be silent for any length of time but find that once they experience the quiet, they are very content to stay in that space.
What are the fruits of silence?
“…when silence is practiced in safe community, healing can occur. People understand that the silence is not commanded, nor is it a punishment. It holds no secrets. People begin to look at one another without words between them and learn what it is to truly see and be seen. With healing comes the possibility of embracing silence and allowing silence to embrace us so that we can turn our attention to God. Silence is not the purpose of a contemplative retreat, but rather the vehicle for paying attention to God. Often we discover God through our senses, which come alive in silence.”
Jane Vennard, “Be Still: Designing and Leading Contemplative Retreats,” p. 16.
What do we need to be mindful of in silence?
For some people, silence can be a scary thing. Silence is certainly a counter-cultural thing in our modern lives, and it’s worth considering if much of our noise is an attempt to keep our- selves or God at arm’s length. Some people may resist silence in a deliberate effort to escape mulling over the past or worrying about the future. Silence has also been used as a weapon in some relationships.
By giving some attention to silence that is created in community with others, a quiet day may help to alleviate the fear of silence. Participants are provided with a means of experimenting with the kind of silence that is designed to be restorative and healing. Receiving permission to be in silence purely for the practice of listening deeply provides a simple and fundamental re-orientation which allows for greater clarity and balance of subsequent activities and choices.
Excerpted from SDI copyrighted material, 2013.