The Quietness of Faith

Wednesday Wisdom. The Quietness of Faith. 

I continue to explore daily quiet moments, listening for them, noticing them, and discovering them in the midst of my busy days. Lately, I have been praying with icons, inspired by the book: Transformed by God’s word: Discovering the Power of Lectio and Visio Divina, by Stephen J. Binz. The icons in the book are by Ruta and Kaspars Poikans and they are captivating and meditative.

Praying with icons, or holy images, or with objects from nature can create an interior quiet feeling. It allows us to quiet our active minds and become more relaxed in prayer. We are not forcing anything. We do not hold any other agenda except being present. The intention is to encounter the icon or tree and let it to speak to our hearts, to open ourselves up to having a holy encounter.

Being present, I invite you to pray this way, with an icon, a flower, or any image that moves you.

• Sit quietly
• For five or ten minutes, allow yourself to gaze at what you are looking at. Soften your eyes, and receive what you are looking at, without projecting a story onto what you are seeing.
• Let what you are seeing reveal something to you: perhaps a moment of faith, a moment of tenderness, or a deepening companionship with God.
• Let this be a restful time.

As I continue to seek quiet moments in a very full schedule these days, I find that not having an “agenda” when I pray provides me with a quiet reprieve. Praying with the icons in Binz’s book has allowed me to come to prayer with an emptiness that I am finding very restful. The silence helps. The soft gazing helps.

Sit and encounter an image, a flower, an icon. As we gaze on our image, let us open up, allowing the quietness of faith to be our guide. There is a gentle quietness in faith. It’s restful: gazing and being present to what the moment reveals.

Here’s a Visio Divina to enjoy.