Dear Ones,

Our Soul Matters Sharing Circle packet, on the March theme of “Renewing Faith,” suggested the2016 Martin Scorsese film Silence. It documents the efforts of two Portuguese Jesuits in 1640 to find a lost padre in Japan after the Japanese government bans Christianity. The film explores sources of divinity and the challenges of keeping faithful, as well as cultural misunderstanding and efforts to maintain power and control as the human world changes. It was challenging. And it felt especially rewarding in this time when change is impossible to ignore and so many of us seek some stability to help us maintain a sense of truth, meaning, and purpose. I recommend it (you can view it on Hulu).

One particularly beautiful and poignant tension tracked through the entire film—the persistent sounds of nature and the painful silence of a higher being as the Jesuits prayed. It put me to mind of the noisy world we live in—full of war, full of gun violence, full of deadly weather events, full of human despair everywhere as close as next door. And the other noises, too—of bird song, of flowing water, of a house with all its creaks and groans and systems running, cats purring and dogs scratching. And the silence that can frighten, when we find ourselves unsure how to act to make the world better as it changes around us.

The world is full of sound, calling out to us—insistent sound that demands our work and attention, quiet sound weaving us into the fabric of everyday reality. I invite you to settle into the silence—within you or that which you create by practice—as well as into the quiet created by the sounds of the natural world, to be still and listen for as long as it takes. You already have the answers. You know what the world requires of you. You know where to find faithful companions to encourage and sustain you. Have faith in yourself, as you remember that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so.