“Flee, be silent, pray.” -advice of St. Arsenius the Great, fourth-century Desert Father
“The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place, and rest a while.’” -Mark 6:30-31
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Recently I was given the chance to take a Sabbatical for most of the month of June, going pretty off-the-grid in every way. My time is summed up well by that quote above: I “fled” to Michigan, where I was able to stay with an aunt and uncle for a month. Their generosity and hospitality allowed me to embrace an abundance of silence. Silent mornings sipping coffee on their back patio with Scripture, silent evenings reading good novels, silent moments in the middle of the day to take a deep breath and be grateful. That blessed silence slowly worked on my anxious soul, and I was able to pray in the way Ronald Rolheiser describes: “Prayer is relaxing into the goodness of God.”
Now, entering into planning season for the semester and year ahead, I am filled up, hopeful, even a bit eager. I’ve begun gathering resources for a Large Group series on Exodus, and I’m thinking about where to focus with our leaders this semester. All things I’m excited about, and yet I also find myself thinking this: “How do I tell our students what I needed to hear, and continually need to hear: that we overcomplicate following Jesus in so many ways; that their identity as a beloved child of God is received with empty hands, not earned; that they are not their last test grade, or their future prospects, or their parents’ anxieties, or their complicated on-again-off-again ‘situationship;’ in short, how do I help them grasp that they are loved?”
I know the wisdom I needed as I found my soul forgetting the goodness of God this spring: again, flee, be silent, and pray. Perhaps the biggest win this semester won’t be in how many students come to Large Group, or how deep the discussions get in our Bible studies, or how many freshmen we make real connections with. The biggest win may be helping a student spend a little less time on social media, a little more time “fleeing” that endless, anxious scroll, and thus a little more time in silence and in prayer. The fruit of the Spirit is peace and patience, among other things. That’s the fruit I want to see in my students’ busy lives.
For my part (along with my staff), I will continue to learn that sanctification in ourselves and our students is slow; that we are to gently and faithfully sow the seed of the Word, and then trust God, because nothing will ever grow if we insist on anxiously re-tilling the same soil over and over again.
I would invite you, reader, friend of RUF, beloved of God: however your summer, your year, your life is going, find a moment of silence this week and to relax into God’s goodness as you’re able. Another way to describe prayer might be to say—and perhaps this is the singular point that is behind my own meditation here—that prayer is nothing more than remembering that you are not God; then letting that knowledge humble you into silence; and then realizing again that this is actually very, very good news.
Noah Rinehart is the Campus Minister at Saint Louis University.