By now you will have started doing Niksen. I hope you are finding it life-giving. If you can acquire the habit of this light-touch, low pressure quiet, present listening then you will do well. You will begin to learn St Paul’s secret of being content in all circumstances (cf Philippians 4.11-12) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%204%3A11-12&version=NRSVA
Why not dial this up to 11 this Sunday?
Where could you go that is full of interest, people, drama, images, music?
Don’t pick somewhere where people will want to interact with you, because you don’t want to be rude and give them a brush off. And find somewhere you can hope to sit for ten minutes without getting in anyone’s way. But it needs to be public, brash, energetic, noisy.
A big shopping centre would be good. A big railway station. A city-centre bar at lunch time. A major airport terminal.
Pick your spot. Check out the seating arrangements so you can be sure you won’t be uncomfortable. If in a bar or a café, and it’s really crowded, make sure you’re on a table for one, otherwise people may interrupt to ask if they can share. And make sure you have a half full glass or cup in front of you so the staff don’t ask you if you’ve finished. Think all these things through. Make sure you are going to have ten minutes when, although there’s lots going on around you, nobody is going to interact with you directly.
Then when you are ready… you know what to do… sit, breathe and listen, here now.
I think this is an occasion to have your eyes open. Otherwise you’ll just look weird. And as well, it will just increase the sensory load, which is what we are going for. But maybe not move your head, or posture too much. You could perhaps gaze around you, but I would say just pick a direction to look in and stay there.
Don’t be too intense, and don’t go slack-jawed – it will disturb your reverie if anyone asks you if you need medical attention, and you don’t want to do anything that will make you self-conscious. Then – ten minutes. Attentive. Open. Exactly as in your daily times of silence – only there is more going on around you. Be present before God in the multiplicity, the fallen confusion, the glorious variety of all that he has made. Not processing. Not assessing. Not remembering. Not noticing. Not disapproving. Not delighting. Just here, now.
Season of Silence 