Participants in the prayer study groups have been practicing silence and solitude, because the author of the book we're using asserts that that is the basis of all the prayer practices that will follow. Both groups have had "check in" sessions, and many of us report that we're having a hard time with silence. Indeed, all of us find it even harder to get to a point of interior silence.

That's not really surprising, because we're so accustomed to being productive and busy, and that's noisy inside our minds. On my bike ride this morning, I saw a young mother on the sidewalk along Jamestown Road who was jogging (dressed in proper jogging attire) -- and while she was running, she was pushing her baby in a carriage with her left hand -- and while she was running and pushing her baby in a carriage with her left hand, she was talking into a cell phone that she held in her right hand! If a cartoonist drew that scene, it would be a caricature of super-productivity.

We're real good at that kind of productivity. We're real good at doing a number of things at once. But that makes for a lot of noise in our minds! And so, we're not good at interior silence. It takes discipline. As I heard one teacher of prayer say: "The first requirement is to decide to spend a certain amount of time in prayer each day, and to keep your fanny in the chair for that amount of time!" Then there might be a chance to find calm and quiet.