Fortunately, God has not called me to be a monk. But, by cultivating the discipline of silence during Lent, I see ways God is doing a new work in me.
Words matter. What if the source of our words matters as much as the words themselves?
Faced with the overwhelming abundance and appalling emptiness of human speech these days, something inside me wants to follow Job’s lead and “lay my hand over my mouth.”
Scorsese film ‘Silence’ illustrates Christian need to go inward with faith
The Los Angeles Times called Silence “a film for the ages,” while Variety described it as “undeniably gorgeous. A remarkable achievement.” But the latest film by Martin Scorsese, currently in theaters, is more than that, says Michael Sciretti Jr., a…
Dwelling in silence: the future of noise
I have to admit that I am a headphone snob with a portfolio of devices. There’s my Bose noise canceling set for lawn mowing and air travel. The in-ear set for motorcycling. The Beats wireless for exercise. If you have…
The sound of silence
I am pastor of a Baptist congregation in Fort Collins, Colorado, and for the past two plus months, I have been on sabbatical. In addition to pursuing goals of resting, studying and revisioning, I have also attended three conferences, visited…
Spirituality: 4:30 a.m. and mindfulness
[This is the sixth (spirituality) of a nine-part series on empowering a faith community to impact the world. Already hospitality, evangelism, missions, ethics and Bible have been explored.] During my sabbatical study at Oxford University many years ago, I decided to take a…
Social media, Sabbath and silence: Three ways to counter misshaping cultural currents
The community group that I co-lead in our church has recently been talking about and experimenting with how to better spend our time and money on what matters most in God’s economy.[1] At this point, we’re not very ambitious, but…
Silent lunch
I turned off the radio in disgust. My blood was boiling, again, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed the silence of no hateful talk or adults bickering like children. I needed the silence of just being with God…