Voices
from Silence
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A 'first Friday of the month' series, from October 2024.
Personal stories of engaging in silence by practitioners from the Global Majority Heritage (GMH) community.* |
A quarter of the way into the new millennium the reality for many people from this community is that their lives and stories are sidelined. Their voices are silenced.
So, although people from the GMH may have a spiritual practice of silence, authors in these communities tend to write more about silencing than silence-based prayer.
This new series is a way to bring some voices from the GMH community into the conversations and resources about silence on the Seeds of Silence website.
So, although people from the GMH may have a spiritual practice of silence, authors in these communities tend to write more about silencing than silence-based prayer.
This new series is a way to bring some voices from the GMH community into the conversations and resources about silence on the Seeds of Silence website.
April 2025:
Evonne Galloway, 'My Dear Friend, Silence'
Image: Gustavo Leighton, Brazil, unsplash.com/@g_leighton
Evonne Galloway,
London, UK |
Listen to Evonne reading 'My Dear Friend, Silence'
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My Dear Friend, Silence
It would be easy to claim that I discovered Christian meditation at the start of my faith journey. However, the truth is, meditation found me just when I needed it most.
In late August 2011, following a period of social unrest that swept across the UK (known as the London riots), an invitation arrived, a possible balm to the growing unease within and around me. I finally accepted an offer to join a Christian meditation group that had been running for many years within the familiar walls of my parish church.
The friendship (this is how I best describe my relationship with silence) was immediate and almost tangible. We simply understood each other. There was mutual recognition, as if we spoke the same language. My body, mind, and spirit found true rest, and my experience of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was both informative and grace filled.
What began as weekly meditation sessions with the group soon transitioned into a daily practice. This rhythm continued for years, during which I became a group facilitator and advocate, leading day retreats and courses after completing the Essential Teaching course provided by WCCM: World Community for Christian Meditation.
During this wonderful opportunity to evangelize the contemplative tradition, my sense of calling to the priesthood within the Church of England grew increasingly clear. After nearly two years of active discernment by others and rigorous self-examination, I left London in September 2022 to embark on two years of residential theological training in West Yorkshire.
Fast-forward to today, in this season of Lent, I find myself reflecting on my relationship with my dear friend, silence, and for good reason. Lent calls us to deepen our spirituality and embrace discipline. Words like repentance and mercy echo from every corner. Conscience tugs at us, urging reflection on where healing is needed. I must admit, my infidelity to silence has led me to lament.
Together, silence and I have accomplished much. We have climbed hills of joy and weathered valleys of despair. We journeyed through life side by side. Silence spoke, and I listened. Yet, contrary to everything I’ve advised others against, I allowed distractions, even seemingly holy ones, to overshadow our bond. I am studying. I do the Offices now. I am a daily communicant. Five minutes here and there. I am a busy curate. Lord, have mercy!
Yet we serve a God who is faithful and full of mercy for those who truly repent. Silence never abandoned me, even in those shadowy moments. The call of silence remains loud, the world desperately needs it. And it needs people like you and me to continue saying the mantra, your prayer word as an anchor, as practised by WCCM.
Now, I find myself among the blessed saints on earth and in heaven who have tasted silence yet, for one reason or another, experienced separation. Does this make me a mystic who has wandered, only to find the path back to silence once again? Oh, how I must fully reconcile with my dear friend, as we once were, grounded in simplicity and grace.
My Dear Friend, Silence
It would be easy to claim that I discovered Christian meditation at the start of my faith journey. However, the truth is, meditation found me just when I needed it most.
In late August 2011, following a period of social unrest that swept across the UK (known as the London riots), an invitation arrived, a possible balm to the growing unease within and around me. I finally accepted an offer to join a Christian meditation group that had been running for many years within the familiar walls of my parish church.
The friendship (this is how I best describe my relationship with silence) was immediate and almost tangible. We simply understood each other. There was mutual recognition, as if we spoke the same language. My body, mind, and spirit found true rest, and my experience of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was both informative and grace filled.
What began as weekly meditation sessions with the group soon transitioned into a daily practice. This rhythm continued for years, during which I became a group facilitator and advocate, leading day retreats and courses after completing the Essential Teaching course provided by WCCM: World Community for Christian Meditation.
During this wonderful opportunity to evangelize the contemplative tradition, my sense of calling to the priesthood within the Church of England grew increasingly clear. After nearly two years of active discernment by others and rigorous self-examination, I left London in September 2022 to embark on two years of residential theological training in West Yorkshire.
Fast-forward to today, in this season of Lent, I find myself reflecting on my relationship with my dear friend, silence, and for good reason. Lent calls us to deepen our spirituality and embrace discipline. Words like repentance and mercy echo from every corner. Conscience tugs at us, urging reflection on where healing is needed. I must admit, my infidelity to silence has led me to lament.
Together, silence and I have accomplished much. We have climbed hills of joy and weathered valleys of despair. We journeyed through life side by side. Silence spoke, and I listened. Yet, contrary to everything I’ve advised others against, I allowed distractions, even seemingly holy ones, to overshadow our bond. I am studying. I do the Offices now. I am a daily communicant. Five minutes here and there. I am a busy curate. Lord, have mercy!
Yet we serve a God who is faithful and full of mercy for those who truly repent. Silence never abandoned me, even in those shadowy moments. The call of silence remains loud, the world desperately needs it. And it needs people like you and me to continue saying the mantra, your prayer word as an anchor, as practised by WCCM.
Now, I find myself among the blessed saints on earth and in heaven who have tasted silence yet, for one reason or another, experienced separation. Does this make me a mystic who has wandered, only to find the path back to silence once again? Oh, how I must fully reconcile with my dear friend, as we once were, grounded in simplicity and grace.
Evonne Galloway, April, 2025.
For more information about the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), mentioned by Evonne in her text above, click its logo.
For information about Bonnevaux, WCCM's retreat centre in France, and its programme for the coming months, click its logo.
* The term 'Global Majority Heritage' (GMH) refers to people whose backgrounds are from non-Western, non-White ethnic and cultural groups, reflecting the fact that the majority of the world’s population comes from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The term challenges the traditional framing of racial and ethnic minorities by emphasizing that these populations are, in fact, the global majority.
(If you receive the weekly 'Quoting Silence' email you will automatically receive the Voices from Silence email.)
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