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Welcome quiet friend,
In a world full of cacophony, complexity and chaos, you may be longing for a little bit of silence, simplicity and stillness. Be assured that you are not alone! For these next 40 days of Lent, you will be part of a broad and beloved community of folks embarking on a Lenten journey into lengthening silence. So, a warm welcome to you!
Beginning with one minute of sacred silence on Ash Wednesday you will lengthen your silent prayer by one minute each day. By the time you get to Easter Sunday you will have slowly but steadily lengthened your practice to 40 minutes of sacred silence. Your daily silence can be spent in sacred stillness or in sacred sauntering - depending on what works best for you.
To help you keep track of the length of silence each day, you will find a list at the end of this email with the number of minutes of silence that correspond with each date throughout Lent. Remember that Sundays are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent since every Sunday is meant to be a celebration of the resurrection – a mini Easter if you will.
There are 3 main elements of our Lenten retreat together:
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We will gather for a Welcome Session this Wednesday (February 18) from 12:15-1:00 Eastern Time (please adjust for your own time zone). CLICK HERE to join LIVE or you can watch the recording later at your own convenience. If you have any difficulties connecting, please call or text my tech guru, Jordan Garner, at 440-665-5272. I will resend this information Wednesday morning so that you will have it close at hand.
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Every morning you will receive a short email with a reminder of the number of minutes of silence for the day and a simple practice for your time of silent prayer - lectio divina (sacred reading), visio divina (sacred visual art) or audio divina (sacred listening). As we progress through Lent, I will add these daily practices to the Lengthening Silence Web Page so that you can have everything in one place. CLICK HERE to access the webpage.
- Every Monday at 12:15 pm Eastern Time (please adjust for your own time zone) we will gather in community for a shared practice of sacred silence. The length of these gatherings will grow as the length of our silence grows throughout Lent.
How you enter into and embrace this gift of lengthening silence is entirely up to you. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Your daily silence can be spent in stillness or sacred sauntering, indoor or outdoor, in the morning or evening - depending on what works best for you. The goal is not to follow some carefully prescribed formula for silent prayer, but rather to be intentional about making space in your day to tune out the noise of the world and tune in to God’s presence.
I feel it is important to acknowledge the tender reality that sometimes painful or traumatic memories can emerge in the silence. If this is your experience, please email me and I will hold you close to my heart in prayer. I will also share a list of sensitive and highly qualified mental health care professionals who can walk with you a little more closely on your journey of healing.
Tomorrow you will receive another email with a few practical tips about how to get started and what you might include in your time of silent prayer. I have had the great joy and privilege of leading many silent retreats over the years and continue to be amazed by the transformational grace of God's deep and abiding presence in the silence.
Just as the amount of daylight will be growing throughout your Lenten practice, so will your experience of sacred silence. Blessings and peace to you as we embark together on this sacred journey of lengthening light and silence this Lent.
Your Companion in Silence,
Sharon
Sharon Seyfarth Garner
Director, Belly of the Whale Ministries
216-224-7452
sharon@bellyofthewhaleministries.net
www.bellyofthewhaleministries.net
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