This is a meditation on chapter 20 from our Way of Life.

Seek and Make a Home within Silence

Silence can be hard to come by, living in a city. It requires that I seek it out. Add it into the rhythms of my life. As I sit here in my apartment in the middle of the city in July, I am unable to shut out the noise. There are cars going by outside my building, people at the cafe under our apartment, construction down the street, and alarms going off. And yet, silence is an absolute necessity for my emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.

Most of the time I love living in a city. Entering into daily life and the stories of others I don’t even know. But there are times when I feel the silence and solitude pulling me. An ache in my very being, needing to shut out the world and be in silence with God. I find myself in that place right now. I think that’s part of what is making this meditation more difficult to write today. I need that silence. I need stillness. I need to be able to hear more clearly, the voice and presence of God.

God is with me in the midst of the noise, and in the silence. The same God is in all, and is all. And yet I need those periods of silence to better hear. To choose to say no to the noise of life, and be more fully present with the God who is waiting for me. To experience the grace and peace only He has to offer. When I find that silence with God, I feel that peace. When the world fades away, my thoughts can slow. My breathing can slow. The noises – both external and internal – can quiet, and I am able to enter into God’s peace. It isn’t a peace I can fabricate or create for myself. It is a divine peace. A divine peace that fills my being with each breath. It is something my soul longs for. It is a restoring peace that allows me to continue to be present with myself, others, and God.

I have learned over the years that even as my experiences and expectations of God shift, He does not. God is there for me, waiting. Always. It is generally my own noises and situations that keep me from hearing or experiencing Him. It is my own ‘stuff’ that keeps me from God’s peace. I am the one not making silence. I have to remind myself that there is grace waiting for me too. That even when I can’t shut out the world, God is still as ever-present as always.

Adding silence to my rhythms is an ongoing journey. There are seasons I do it well, and seasons that are more of a struggle. This season has been a struggle. So many things are demanding my attention and focus. This can make it difficult to be intentional about making time for silence with God. My brain tells me to keep going. My soul says slow down and be quiet. And so, on this hot day in July, I put on my noise-cancelling headphones to drown out a bit of that outside noise. I’m going inward. I’m listening. I’m slowing down, breathing slower and deeper. I’m waiting for that peace from God.

Photo Credit
Jordan Prins on 18 May 2025 in Paris, France.