I recently came off of my weeklong silent retreat. In our noisy world, it’s a challenge to sit in the silence without any media, just oneself alone with God. I confess that I was tempted to read through my email several times and get caught up on the top news stories. But I realized how peaceful it was without the “noise” of news headlines or Instagram reels swirling through my head. I unplugged, and it was so refreshing!
Many of us use our digital media for work, study and/or entertainment. These are amazing communication technologies with innumerable benefits. They are gifts of God, as the Church has explained at the Second Vatican Council in Inter Mirifica, the decree on social communications, and numerous exhortations since. The media offers the Church tremendous opportunities for evangelization and catechesis, along with the sharing of news, views and entertainment. But they have also created a world of digital expectations leaving little room for quiet reflection without the presence of a device.
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton once warned our modern mediated culture, “If we strive to be happy by filing all the silences of life with sound, productive by turning all life’s leisure into work, and real by turning all our being into doing, we will only succeed in producing a hell on earth” (“No Man is an Island”). Life without silence can become stressful and unbearable. Yet, we can’t just eliminate our digital media completely from our lives, unless we decide to live off the grid in the mountains, as tempting as that may be. So, how can we truly discover silence amid the digital noise?
I’ve discovered five methods that have helped me to restore my soul in the silence it craves, even in the busyness of the day.
1. Prayer breaks: Since I was a postulant working in our media apostolate, every so often during the day, a sister would shout out a one-line prayer for the rest of us to respond, such as, “Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life. Have mercy on us!” These short prayers were a reminder to focus our minds on God and take silent prayer breaks while we work.
2. Meditate: Christian meditation offers a wealth of spiritual and mental benefits. Just 10 minutes a day meditating on a line of Scripture or the Gospel reading of the day can be life-changing.
3. Natural beauty: God offers the beauty of creation for us to enjoy — away from behind the screen of our phone. We long to capture every moment with a selfie or video but miss the opportunity to hear the sounds and see the details of nature when we stand or sit in silence before it.
4. Thinking space: Sometimes when I just need space away from my digital media to think, I grab a cup of coffee, sit in solitude and let my mind wander. This allows my brain to process all that is going on inside and can even be the occasion to solve problems or recognize inspirations from the Holy Spirit.
5. Media fasts: All of the above suggestions have to do with taking a break from digital media. But sometimes we can benefit from a conscious separation for a period of time. It might mean deleting a problematic app or leaving our phone at home when we go for a walk or staying away from our favorite video game for a week. Whatever we decide, we want to fast in view of discovering the silence and restoring our souls.
Withdrawing from digital noise into silence is not only good for our mental and physical health, but it is first and foremost a spiritual means to encounter God. As St. John of the Cross says, it is in the silence where God speaks.
Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP, is director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles. She is a media literacy educator, writer, film reviewer, speaker and author of a theology of popular culture, “A Sacred Look: Becoming Cultural Mystics.”
