Joy, the Poustinik and their Poustinia

This month my prayer book includes small excerpts from a non-fiction work called ‘Poustinia’ by Catherine de Hueck Doherty.

‘Poustinia’ is a Russian word meaning ‘desert,’ but the book is about the value of seeking solitude and silence for one’s own spiritual wellbeing, in the spirit of the great Desert Mothers and Fathers of old. In those days, a hermit would establish residency in a far-off place…like a desert place or deep in a secluded spot in the forest. They did this to practice being alone with God and keeping silence, so they could listen more intently for God’s voice.

In Russia, a person who does this is called a ‘poustinik’ and their dwelling place is called a ‘poustinia.’ Of course, one needn’t physically retreat to a place like this if one wants to commune with God (though it helps), so Catherine de Hueck Doherty wrote her book in hopes of helping everyday people like me and you practice the spirit of ‘desert spirituality’ right where we are from one day to the next.

Often, we think of the practice of silence and solitude as abhorrent, unnecessarily severe, and undesirably ascetic. In much of North American culture, there is a value for popularity and for those who have a way with words. Our airwaves and television programs are filled with constant chatter and talking. Rarely do we stop to practice being fully and simply present to ourselves, the world, and God just through sitting in silence for any significant amount of time. It is as if the moment there is a bit of silence, we quickly and eagerly feel the need to fill it with something else.

We have become so accustomed to the noise that even when we begin to practice silence, our mind instantly fills with thoughts…words, words, and more words…and our heart cannot be at rest, at peace with stillness. Our body may be stilled, but inside we are racing…going, going, and going all the time.

But this way of living robs us of joy. It keeps us from cultivating the kind of peace that penetrates deep to the core of our very being. It blocks us from truly knowing our own profound beloved-ness and the intrinsic beloved-ness of others. In the end, it hinders us from being loved and loving.

Far from making someone stern…cold and stand-offish…the practice of silence-in-solitude opens us up to the world and fills us with the joy of knowing love in the very depths of our being. This is why Catherine de Hueck Doherty writes these words in her book about the way of the ‘poustinia’:

“If you ever see a sad hermit or poustinik, then he is no hermit at all. The most joyous persons in Russia are the ones who have the eyes of a child at 70 and who are filled with the joy of the Lord, for they who have entered the silence of God are filled with God’s joy….You cannot fool people as to such things as the presence of love and joy in a human being.”

My invitation to you this holiday season is to take some time…out of the normal hustle and bustle…to just sit in silence and savor it, rather than filling the silence with something else. Just breathe. Just be. Cultivate joy and peace deep within just by knowing that God is present and loves you, just by being present to the time you have and the space you inhabit.

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Joy, the Poustinik and their Poustinia
reflections by troy cady

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*Photo by Brett Jordan via Unsplash. Creative Commons License.

words, silence and presence

in silence the word i speak

grows stronger

in the silence i turn

to the healing touch

of love,

the gentle quiet

caressing the cuts,

treating the trauma

the silence warms

the heart

like a candle’s flame

brightening

the room,

whispering awake

the speechless soul

here in the silence

i seek you

and meet you—

the Word of hope

growing stronger within

out of the silence

the Word emerges,

a presence fuller

than many words

hear the silence invite—

the Word dwells richly

without and within

i pray

these words

emerge

from the fullness

of the Word’s silent presence

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words, silence and presence

by troy cady

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trust and words

If God’s Word grows in me, my words invariably become fewer.

Do I feel the need to comment on everything I read in God’s Word? Too often, I do. Save me, dear Lord, from such self-centered compulsions. Let your Word grab hold of me before I presume to grab hold of it.

We all speak many needless words. I know this by personal experience. I am struck not by how much Jesus said, but rather by how little he said--and how simply he said it. How is it? The God of all truth speaks, at times, in obscurity—packaging the truth in simple stories and metaphors. Why is this? He could have explained many things to us by more direct means but it is only the Gnostic Jesus who writes a philosophy textbook.

Can I trust that the simple Word of God can seed an entire field? Yes, I can. But, will I? Will I play the part of common farmer, casting seeds without the need for speech, letting the seeds do their own work in each unique field? Will I let the fruit be His or will I insist foolishly that I made the seed?

befriend silence

Silence can be that road of discovery leading you into the other person’s heart. Silence has the capacity to place one in humility, if it causes you to adopt a posture of receiving. Silence is often thought of as a gift one gives to the other. But it is more than that; it also proves a way to receive the gift of honest self that the other has just given to you.

Receive the gift of the other,
no questions asked,
no accusations made,
no judgments pronounced.

What they have spoken is human, and you are human, too. Silence can remind you to be human. It can, therefore, ennoble us because to be human is to possess intrinsic dignity due to a condition that can’t be changed: the condition of our unconditional lovedness.

Just receive the gift of the other to you, no matter if the gift unsettles you. Receive the words they have spoken without feeling compelled to reply with more words, words of your own.

After all, their words are not your words, nor should they be.
That is what makes them them and you you.
Let them be who they are through the discipline of silence.
Silence helps us lay down our desire to coerce another into conformity.

(Be silent now.
For a few seconds.
Wait before reading on.)

Sometimes God’s words to us are wordless. Therefore, God becomes apparent to another when we simply respond with a silence that says, “I hear you. I accept the gift of your words, the gift of you, without judgment, with empathy, with tears, if tears are needed, or with smiling eyes, if pleasure comes begging.” Silence and solidarity go hand-in-hand. Most often, the gift of listening presence is the greatest gift we can give to another because it is the gift God always gives to us. Remember, God’s replies are indescribable because they go beyond words. We cannot show God to one another without the grace of simple silence.

To take up the addiction of spoken reply is as destructive as treating loneliness with heroin. It destroys oneself and it demeans those around you. Therefore, let it be enough for us to just listen, to simply listen and receive what the other has spoken.

Recollect the grace of pure presence.
Wordless togetherness
is a road to friendship,
so befriend silence.

Allow space in your life for silence.
Admit passage to it.
Let it rest in its harbor.
Its harbor is your heart.
God made it that way.