Silence and Solitude

We continue our special Lenten podcast series with author and spiritual director, Ruth Haley Barton, and this brief introduction to the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude. Ruth considers the unique gift these practices offer us, why they can be so challenging, and the way that these practices look different depending on your season of life. 

Where We Encounter God

"Solitude and silence in particular is where we encounter God, but it is also the place that's most challenging for us on so many different levels." - Ruth Haley Barton

We hope you're encouraged to start right where you are, even if that's just a minute or two of silence in the morning before the day begins, or at night to allow the sediment of the day to settle and to see more clearly what's most important.

Learn more about Ruth Haley Barton.

Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Richard Rohr

Dallas Willard

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Devotions by John Donne and paraphrased by Philip Yancey

The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine of Hippo, Introduced by James K.A. Smith

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

God’s Grandeur: The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

A Spiritual Pilgrimage by Malcolm Muggeridge

Related Conversations:

Liturgy of the Ordinary in Extraordinary Times with Tish Harrison Warren

Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies with Marilyn McEntyre

Invitation to Solitude and Silence with Ruth Haley Barton

On the Road with Saint Augustine with James K.A. Smith and Elizabeth Bruenig

Listen to this or any of our conversations in full at ttf.org, and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, visit https://ttf.org/join.

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music.