Random Thoughts on Prayer and Silence

This is another 'Random Thoughts' post just because several things have come to mind at the same time. Though they came randomly to my attention I think they are related and they touched something in my heart. 

The first is another of Mary Oliver's beautiful poems*, this one is called 'Praying':

       It doesn't have to be
       the blue iris, it could be
       weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
       small stones; just
       pay attention, then patch

       a few words together and don't try
       to make them elaborate, this isn't
       a contest but the doorway

       into thanks, and a silence in which
       another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver is a very spare poet I think and I like that immensely because I feel that the deepest things can only be spoken of 'sparely'. Here, in so many ways, she takes, not the mystery, but the fuss out of prayer. I think so many of us think prayer has to be something hard to do. But if you understand prayer to be the sharing of a relationship, speaking as Teresa of Avila said, 'to one you know loves you' then it can be few words, even a beautiful silence of shared love.
     

Of course, Thich Nhat Hanh has some words about silence that may help too. He says :

       *Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside.
       Silence does not mean not talking and not doing things; it means you
       are not disturbed inside, there is no talking inside.

My own experience of life as a contemplative nun is very much in agreement with TNH. It is sorting out and dealing with the voices within that lead to silence. At the same time, I do think there are also times when we need very much to go to our 'secret place' as Jesus tells us, to be alone and to be quiet inside and out. Still, it is the inside that is most important.

*Mary Oliver: Thirst, Beacon Press, Boston, 2006
*Thich Nhat Hanh, Your True Home, The Everyday wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, Shambhala, Boston, 2011