• About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Leadership
    • ADF: A Druid Fellowship
    • Photos
  • Services
  • Calendar
  • Resources & Social Justice
  • Membership
  • Blogs
    • Prairie Tidings (Church Blog)
    • Rev. Badger's 2019 Stoic Blog
    • The Practical Bard (Rev. Missy's Blog)
    • Little Druid on the Prairie (Rev. Lauren's Blog)
  • Policies
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Leadership
    • ADF: A Druid Fellowship
    • Photos
  • Services
  • Calendar
  • Resources & Social Justice
  • Membership
  • Blogs
    • Prairie Tidings (Church Blog)
    • Rev. Badger's 2019 Stoic Blog
    • The Practical Bard (Rev. Missy's Blog)
    • Little Druid on the Prairie (Rev. Lauren's Blog)
  • Policies
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

A Year of Contemplation

Silence is Strength (Day 217)

8/5/2019

 
Picture
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Silence is a lesson learned from the many sufferings of life.”
Seneca, Thyestes, 309

Before we begin, I want to acknowledge the diverse, inclusive nature of “silence”. It can be strength, like we see in the above title, or it can be a sign of feeling weak. Silence can be support of a broken system, or defiance in the face of another. Silence can speak volumes, or say nothing at all. When a voice is needed, silence is damaging. When silence is needed, however, nothing can replace it.

Today’s teaching on silence is about knowing when to keep one’s mouth shut when silence is what’s needed.

I’ve said lots of foolish things throughout my life. Lots and lots. Truth be told, I’ve gotten so good at apologizing because I’ve said so much dumb shit; my own crucible of stupidity. However, when I look back over the myriad choices I have when selecting one of the dipstick things I’ve said, I see a single theme:

Every dumbass things I’ve said was born out of my ego…

… just like the things you’ve said that have come back to bite you have been born out of yours.

Our ego kicks in when we feel inexperienced, or fearful… and the word-vomit begins in order to relieve inner “pressure” and self-soothe in our moment of micro-crisis.

Our practice to combat ego’s hurtful, selfish desires is to train ourselves to listen, to create space for others, and to be able to exist without constant confirmation and validation.

Success in this practice is possible, AND it takes a ton of work. Silence will make us stronger, and will make us more and more self-sufficient…

… if we practice.

(See y’all tomorrow)

Comments are closed.

    About the Blog

    Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind. 
    How things are structured can be found in the first post. 

    About the Author

    Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove.  He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace. 

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.