Silence

I like silence.

I'm an introvert and I enjoy good periods of being silent (especially if I'm reading while it's silent).

But I also really like silence in worship services.

I had the privilege of staying a week at the Taize community in France a year and a half ago. I loved attending worship three times a day there because silence is such an integral part of it. There was sufficient space to just be in the presence of God. Words were minimal. And the space was holy.

The pastor and I tried to craft holy, silent space at the Maundy Thursday service. People were pretty good at entering in silence. The narthex and sanctuary were lit by candlelight and the pianist played some beautiful prelude selections that helped people meditate or just be quiet. At the end of the service, there was no benediction and the bulletin indicated that people should exit singing the last verse of "Were You There?" and then leave in silence. The pastor and I walked down the aisle during the verse in hope that people would follow. We then circled back around to the sanctuary - no receiving line/greeeting time. People did follow, but they were not silent once the verse was over. There was lots of chatting and calling across the narthex to others. I was in the sanctuary starting to extinguish the candles. A congregant came up to me and offered to do that so I could go greet people. I politely told him that I was okay extinguishing the candles because I would prefer that people would leave in silence.

When we so often fill so much of our time and space with words, how do we teach others to honor silence?