Discover Contemplation With the Parables & Your Loved OnesSample

“Catch a bubble!” Most teachers have a method for quieting their students, and I’ve loved learning this delightful command from my children’s kindergarten teachers: they can silence an entire procession of five-year-olds walking down the hallway by simply asking them to pretend to put a big bubble in their mouths.

Lent is a season for all of us to “catch a bubble,” to hush, to pause the endless chatter, and welcome some wide open silences. It’s ok not to talk, letting those awkward silences lengthen into spacious minutes when you can only hear the crickets. It’s ok to have an unexpressed thought. It’s ok not to engage with someone’s opinion or idea. Let it be. Let language go and be on the alert for signs and symbols you might encounter on the Lenten path.

Use this season to get acquainted with your own secret well of silence, a source of strength, mercy, and wonder that lives deep within each of us and is right there waiting for us to draw from it. I think of my own well as a vast, deep, sweet sea within. I can close my eyes and use my breath to tap into my secret sea, like a sugarmaker who knows just how and where to tap a maple tree for syrup.When we choose to calm the noise around us, hushing allows us to return to that well to draw strength again and again.

Wonder together: Are there any people in your life who practice silence in a way that stirs you with awe? Who are they? Are they people who speak few words, or do they have some other qualities that encourage you to hush? Are there places in your life that encourage you to be quiet? Can you name rules, boundaries, or customs that encourage silence? Encourage little ones at the table to have a contest to see who can hold silence for the longest, or take them on a silent walk during the soft light of dusk to see if they can notice the rustling leaves or chirping whipporwill.

Contemplate the parable of the sower and why Jesus wanted to tell stories in a new way (Matthew 13: 1-14).