More from Lory Widmer Hess

In the years since my gallbladder surgery I’ve continued to engage in silent prayer, with the intention to practice daily. Sometimes I slip out of that rhythm, but as long as I manage to sit myself down first thing in the morning, before other commitments and distractions intervene, it usually works. This is the longest time of consistent prayer practice I have ever achieved, and over time the connection with God’s heart of stillness has shown its healing power.

I think the genius of this prayer is that it’s not about achieving perfect inner silence, but about strengthening my ability to notice. When I practice simply noticing whenever I’ve strayed from my intention to be open to God’s presence and activity within, I start to notice other things: knots in my attitude toward life; outdated stories I keep telling myself, left over from childhood; unfair judgments and unfounded assumptions. And I can let those things slip away, be released, untie themselves.

The peace behind and between all my scrunched-up, self-protective habits starts to come forward. And as it comes into my awareness more and more, a different habit starts to form—a habit of trust, a mode of waiting that is not impatient or restless but rather calm and hopeful, open to unimaginable wonders.

I’m so thankful for this healing, which is not a one-time event but an unfolding process. And I will continue to follow it, to learn, and to grow in the silence.

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