Iona Pentecost Pilgrimage: Day of Silence
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The practice of silence is a way of opening up our ears and eyes to fresh and new awarenesses. By quieting our tongue, we are able to listen in profound ways and by engaging silence; we are agreeing to listen to the still small voice of the sacred.
Our Day of Silence invited our group to intentionally draw apart from one another and choose the quiet as a companion to our day. The white, soft sand of the North Beach, inviting meditation benches, ancient pink walls of the Nunnery, and rocky, surf beaten shores of Iona’s southern side provided places in which we encountered the inarticulateness of ourselves and of God. Following such an intense day of walking and reflections, this day of being alone with the elements was a welcomed respite.
Our normal lives are filled with amplified sound coming at us from all perspectives. There are the very real noises of planes, trains and automobiles. Then there are the myriad of subtle sounds-cell phones, text messages, Instand Messaging, and other modes of media. The demands of relationships can also offer up their own version of needy-noise. We make pilgrimage to leave behind the normal structures of life to engage the Holy; we also must leave behind the noise so to better hear God.
“Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon [God] in yourself.”
