By Kat Goheen, Canada West Mission Centre Co-President

In 2018, my friends Lanette and Vickie, and I stood in front of the lodge where we would learn to become spiritual directors over a two-year period. We were told right away that our third retreat of five would be in silence. I found that intimidating, as I only meditated for ten minutes at a time and often struggled with scattered thoughts. How would I manage three days of silence?

When that retreat came, we were shown how to enter our own space by avoiding eye contact with others, media, and excessive reading. We were encouraged to move from headspace to heart and body space. We cooked our meals in silence, ate in silence, and listened to short meditations while maintaining the feeling of silence. Silence became a presence. The setting was gorgeous, and we had true freedom to wander aimlessly and rest when needed. One afternoon, I sat on a glacial stone for hours, watching two ravens fly back and forth between the mountains, calling to one another frequently. I watched the sun travel across the sky and jotted down the occasional thought in my journal as it occurred—not striving for anything, just being. As one of our teachers often said, “Nothing to do, nothing to be done.”

There is a connection between silence and presence. You can’t buy presence; you can’t learn it in a book. You can only live into it by finding peace within yourself, then moving yourself out of the way to make space for others. In silence, I found deeper personal presence, and I found God waiting there for me in a powerful way.

You are in good hands at the Nurturing Silence retreat at Samish, Oct 18–20. Lanette and Vickie have planned the weekend and will take excellent care of us.
​
Whether this is your first experience with silence or you are old friends, I hope to see you there!