Silence in My Pocket

When I got my iPhone a few years ago one of the first things I did was to find an 'app' for meditation. There are a variety of these and they all have the simple function of a timer. The one that I found is called 'Meditation Timer.' (It used to be free but now I believe it costs 99 cents.)

For a long time, I would use it almost exclusively in the morning. My custom is to wake up early, make a pot of coffee and sit for twenty minutes of silence. The meditation timer app is designed so that you can set the times as you like. So, I set it for thirty seconds before the first sound, which is a ding like the ding of a meditation bowl. The thirty seconds gives me some time to settle into my chair. After the first ding, my phone counts twenty minutes before a second ding tells me it's time to open my eyes.

In the last few months I have discovered a second use. It is very easy to change the amount of time between dings. It is also, in our age of computers and media, very easy to take a break in the middle of the day by checking sports scores, the latest news, or following somebody's blog. This fall, I started to notice that these breaks weren't always so refreshing or clarifying. I thought, what if I just sit in silence?

So, I have begun to get into a new, healthier habit. I now set my timer for three or four minutes and just sit there with my eyes closed between the dings. Almost always, I find that I come out the other side a little more centered.

This Advent, I have also been starting my three weekly Bible studies with those three or four minutes of silence, using my phone. It feels to me like the result is that we start our conversations already in a deeper, clearer place, having left some of the distractions of our life behind. (Those studies are Tuesday at 12:30, Wednesday at 10 and Thursday at 6:15pm)

I invite you to try it right now. Sit comfortably and simply time yourself for three to five minutes of silence. Of course our minds will be busy. We'll be tempted to rehearse memories, work on to do lists and worry about the future. The only real work as we sit in silence is to ever-so-gently nudge the thoughts aside, perhaps with a word like 'God' or 'Peace', and be still.