A Listening Prayer

High Calling Bloggers have been invited to write about an experience we've had in a spiritual retreat. Those who do will be listed here. Check back because new essays will be appearing each day. This essay is one I wrote for Christian Century in 2005 following a retreat at Laity Lodge, one of my most favorite places on earth.
-------------------------------Real Live Preacher I can't imagine absolute silence, neither can I hear it. Even when I'm in a quiet place, my mind produces its own ghostly, seashell sound. The noise in my head is a faint but high-pitched whine accompanied by a lower rumbling that sounds like an engine pulsing away in the distance. These seem to be the default sounds of my brain. It's what I hear when there is nothing else to hear.

About the closest you can come to silence is to become silent yourself and hope for the best. Close your eyes and forsake your vision. Let go of sight and your desperate need to see. Embrace hearing and you will begin to notice the many layers of the sounds around you...Read More.