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During this time of social isolation many of us are coming face to face with the struggle of being silent.

We are communal by nature. We need people! So what do we do when we can’t be with each other? The temptation is to find different ways to fill every moment of the day with noise of some kind. I’m talking to myself here too. It’s so easy to just leave the TV on all day, or distract ourselves with other media.

But it’s not just screens. Really anything can serve as noise to distract us from isolation. Even
housework or yard work can fill our days. None of this stuff is bad, but we can use it in a bad way.

Silence forces us into the present moment, but often the present moment is the only place that we would rather not be. The present moment is filled with all of our struggles and insecurities, and when we spend time in silence all of these things that we would rather not deal with rear their ugly heads.

So why not just avoid the present moment with all of the distractions that our modern world affords us? Simply because the present moment is the only place that God exists. God doesn’t love who you will be, or who you wish you could be. God loves you as you are, with all of the struggles and imperfections. We have to come to love that person as well, and then allow ourselves to be driven by God’s love to be better.

As we are stuck in quarantine for another month, be sure to make time to embrace the discomfort of silence, so that God can make himself known in the reality of the present moment.

Fr Greg