Voices
from Silence
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Personal stories of engaging in silence by practitioners from the Global Majority Heritage (GMH) or Black and Indigenous Peoples of Colour (BIPOC) communities.* |
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.
Although many people from GMH/ BIPOC communities have a spiritual practice of silence, authors from these communities have tended to write more about their experiences of silencing than of their engagement with silence-based prayer.
This new series is a way to bring some voices from the GMH/ BIPOC communities into the conversations and resources about silence on the Seeds of Silence website.
Although many people from GMH/ BIPOC communities have a spiritual practice of silence, authors from these communities have tended to write more about their experiences of silencing than of their engagement with silence-based prayer.
This new series is a way to bring some voices from the GMH/ BIPOC communities into the conversations and resources about silence on the Seeds of Silence website.
November 2025: Kevin Muriithi Ndereba
'Silence: What we deeply need, and seldom hear'
Image: Andraz Lazic, Unsplash.com
Kevin Muriithi Ndereba,
Nairobi, Kenya |
Listen to Kevin reading his text, 'Silence: What we deeply need, and seldom hear'
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Silence: What we deeply need, and seldom hear
Silence is what we deeply need and seldom what we hear.
I am writing this piece in the context of a very intense year. A 12-year journey of discernment finally ended in my ordination process. A busy year as an academic saw added responsibilities on my table. A personal waiting journey in my family life did not go as intended. All this within a larger social and economic context in my country of political protests dubbed ‘gen z protests’, regional political transformations and shifting economic balances.
Silence is what I deeply need and seldom what I have heard.
Yet in the quiet moments, silence has proven its worth yet again – It has helped me to see what is there with clarity.
Much like in the image above, silence has a powerful capacity to blur what is not important. Its power lies in the ability to foreground what is significant. What is significant however may be something that one could take for granted – a light feather.
Easily blown by the wind.
It’s reeds, too tender to break.
Yet silence’s brilliance is in stabilizing that which one could take for granted.
It can also be thought of as still waves – bringing balance in what would otherwise raise a flood.
So, silence’s capacity is both powerful and gentle.
In a world that primes itself on a system of power, authority and capability, silence emerges as an unexpected ally.
It is often silent moments that help us dig a little bit deeper beyond the surface.
It is often silent moments that affirm gentle authority because marginal voices are uplifted.
It is often silent moments that show us what is really there, thereby allowing us to name and to lean more into our core strengths and weaknesses. The goal: to live out of our true and authentic identity.
I come to the realization that silence is my true need and what I will create time to hear. For in hearing silence, I have always found a pathway to peace, authenticity, humanity, belonging, and shalom.
I am writing this piece in the context of a very intense year. A 12-year journey of discernment finally ended in my ordination process. A busy year as an academic saw added responsibilities on my table. A personal waiting journey in my family life did not go as intended. All this within a larger social and economic context in my country of political protests dubbed ‘gen z protests’, regional political transformations and shifting economic balances.
Silence is what I deeply need and seldom what I have heard.
Yet in the quiet moments, silence has proven its worth yet again – It has helped me to see what is there with clarity.
Much like in the image above, silence has a powerful capacity to blur what is not important. Its power lies in the ability to foreground what is significant. What is significant however may be something that one could take for granted – a light feather.
Easily blown by the wind.
It’s reeds, too tender to break.
Yet silence’s brilliance is in stabilizing that which one could take for granted.
It can also be thought of as still waves – bringing balance in what would otherwise raise a flood.
So, silence’s capacity is both powerful and gentle.
In a world that primes itself on a system of power, authority and capability, silence emerges as an unexpected ally.
It is often silent moments that help us dig a little bit deeper beyond the surface.
It is often silent moments that affirm gentle authority because marginal voices are uplifted.
It is often silent moments that show us what is really there, thereby allowing us to name and to lean more into our core strengths and weaknesses. The goal: to live out of our true and authentic identity.
I come to the realization that silence is my true need and what I will create time to hear. For in hearing silence, I have always found a pathway to peace, authenticity, humanity, belonging, and shalom.
Rev. Dr. Kevin Muriithi Ndereba, November, 2025.
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Muriithi Ndereba is Director of Research and Innovation at St. Paul’s University Kenya, and a Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology. He is an Associate Minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Nairobi and has been working as Principal Investigator for a Templeton funded research project on mental health resilience of young people in Kenyan congregations as part of his Psychology Cross Training Fellowship Program for Theologians at the University of Birmingham.
* The terms 'Global Majority Heritage' (GMH) and 'Black and Indigenous Peoples of Colour' (BIPOC) 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. These terms acknowledge the rich heritage of ancient Indigenous communities and challenge the traditional framing of racial and ethnic minorities by emphasizing that these populations are, in fact, the global majority.
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