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Message from Joel Moore

By Joel Moore, director of faith formation

What does it mean to “be still”? Is it being in a meditative place, sitting on a mat, legs crossed, hands resting on your knees, concentrating on breathing? Or a night on the couch being quiet and reading a good book?

In January, I took a trip north to the New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque to create a space of intentional stillness. New Melleray is a Cistercian monastery where monks live and work within a community wholly orientated to a contemplative life of prayer. They welcome visitors into a guest house for personal retreats.

As I headed up Highway 61 en route to the abbey, I began thinking how crazy it was for me to drive an hour north for quietness. Did I really need to travel, and pay for silence to make a self-discovery or hear God speak? What words would flow into my new journal or jump out at me as I read The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg? What would worship be like with these monks who live and breathe the sacredness of God?

If you don’t know me, I enjoy being a very busy person. I thrive on the rush of having my plate full or overflowing. I am also a Type A personality. I found it slightly intimidating entering the abbey without a plan for my time.

I have to tell you, the quietness is very loud.

My first hour, sitting in my 8×12-foot room, I actually noticed the drip of a faucet and sweep of a second hand. After unpacking a few belongings I headed down to a small chapel for a time of reading. “Be still and know that I am God” resonated in my head.

After some time of simply being quiet in the chapel, I headed up to the larger chapel to join in the Liturgy of the Hours. The monks’ entire day is scheduled around these seven times of song and prayer. Visitors sit in the back of the chapel and are encouraged to join the monks as they lift their voices in song, prayer, and chanting the verses of the Psalms.

I quietly slid into the wooden bench as the monks made their way into the chapel. Accompanied by a small pipe organ, they began to chant the Psalms. Tears filled my eyes. This is what it means to “be still and know that I am God.”

Seven times during my stay I joined the monks in song and prayer. I even managed to get out of bed for the Vigils at 3:30 a.m.. This was a deeply moving time. Darkness filled the countryside, the hallways, and even the Chapel. No pipe organ was used, only voices.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

How could I not get up at 3:30 a.m., in the darkness and stillness, to pray as Jesus did so long ago?

I’ve made some changes in my life since my trip to New Melleray. I’m being more intentional and conscious of taking time to be still. I no longer need to have the music of Wilco, U2, or the Arctic Monkeys filling my car while I drive down the road. Sometimes, it is silent. No longer do I turn on the TV, flip open my laptop, and unfold the paper as I eat my peanut butter toast in the morning. I am striving for less media during my morning routine. My prayer time doesn’t have to consist of Joel doing all the talking. I can now find peace in listening and being quiet.

What do you think of when you hear the words “be still”?

In this age of multitasking, cell phones, texting, instant messaging, two-computer-screen workstations, and late-night meetings, is there time to “be still”?

I think there is.

Joel Moore,

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