Easter service began with a thirty minute meditation. That is, 30 minutes of SILENCE with the lights turned down while sitting quietly among 3000 souls. This can be extremely difficult for some people. How does one walk from a life that runs on sensory overload to sitting still?
In the silence, babies cooed and some cried. Most people were able to sit with their silence peaceably while others struggled with stifling coughs, habitual clearing of throats and knuckles and nervousness of not being subjected to a stimulus.
In the silence, life is no longer a spectator sport and one is challenged with whatever thoughts like to take free range of the clearing space. I had a moment where I chuckled because silence is so hard to create with 3000 people. But I also had many moments at being awed that over 3000 people were striving to create that space together.
In that space of 30 minutes, I found peace and awe... though in that very same space others ran their worries in their heads... worries like
Oh no, I'm going to get sick. Where is that baby? Someone should take that baby out of the room. What are we waiting for? Where's the pastor? Did something wrong happen? I don't like meditation. We don't need a silent period that is more than 5 minutes... ten minutes MAX!
It's funny what kind of things rush in the silence. Though I never personally heard any of these thoughts, I also did hear these thoughts. It's strange but perhaps it makes sense to you too.
Being in a quiet space is like visiting yourself as a child in bed, relaxing and thinking. I visited myself, tucked myself in, fluffed the pillows a bit and smiled at the "noise" around me.
It's funny what one hears in the silence.
JNET
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