Asking the clergy: Can a moment of silence be as good as prayer?

A moment of silence is often observed at public events, as a gesture of respect for an individual who has passed away, or as a way of commemorating a national tragedy. What is the appropriate response for a person of faith? Saying a prayer to yourself? Clearing your mind of all thoughts? Silent meditation? This week’s clergy discuss how to make the most of that brief opportunity for personal reflection.

The Rev. Matt Oprendek

Priest in charge, Christ Episcopal Church, Garden City

A moment of silence is prayer. Silence allows each person to offer prayers in a manner that respects the various traditions from which we find and experience God’s presence. Affording space for those differences is a way that we can love one another with kindness and generosity. Imagine a room full of co-workers: Christian, Jewish, Muslim and others who may follow a nontraditional path of faith or none at all. Holding a moment of silence allows each person to express his or her care and love for the person or concern in question. During such a silence, some people might silently pray the Lord’s Prayer, others might see in their mind’s eye that they are holding that person up to God’s light and love, entrusting them to God, and others may simply seek “to be still and know that God is God.” (Psalm 46:10) Apart from corporate moments of silence, it’s helpful to use silence in our private prayer life too. One mystic wrote, “Silence is the language of God.” Every person, through silence, can begin to understand that God is not a vending machine, dispensing gifts upon request. Instead, God is love. In our silence, we can begin to orientate our entire being (our souls, minds, and bodies) toward God who wants to be in relationship with us. Silence is prayer; it is a way to find and experience God, the source of all love, in the depths of our hearts and minds.

Cantor Irene Failenbogen

The New Synagogue of Long Island, Brookville

In our everyday life we can have many moments of silence. When we just open our eyes in the morning, many thoughts come to our minds about the day ahead or memories about the day past; when we walk down the street and observe things around us, or even when we reflect on something that bothers us or makes us unhappy, such as the silence of death, terrorism, hunger, people sick, the natural disasters that occur almost every day around us.

All of these moments are filled with thoughtful and transforming silence. All these moments are very powerful and can speak loudly in a society that needs healing and understanding. Prayer needs silence to unfold, but it is not only that. Prayer needs the relationship with God, the intention of bringing quiet to the moment for the purpose of communication with the divinity. Some people pray through silence, but there is not one way that fits all. In Judaism, for example, prayer, or Tefillah, is connected with the sound of words and melody. As a cantor and leader of Jewish prayer, my mission is to embrace the power of music to facilitate the exercise of prayer in the synagogue. Like any exercise, if you enjoy it, you want to keep doing it for life. Prayer should be meaningful but also enjoyable. You want to create a space in your heart to connect with God and, like any important relationship, grow old with him/her. Investing in your connection with God through prayer, showing all your spiritual true colors, will strengthen your bond.

Samantha Tetro

Samantha’s Lil Bit of Heaven Ministries, East Northport

Nothing can take the place of prayer. A moment of silence can be reflective or peaceful in some situations. Or, it can simply enable the person to not forget to buy milk on his or her way home. Many times, silence in our minds is free reign for our thoughts to go anywhere and everywhere. However, we serve a God who is relational. He desires for us to talk to him through prayer. Why? Because prayer changes things. Especially when praying God’s word. God’s word has power. For example: Prayer can heal, prayer can comfort, prayer can encourage, prayer can annihilate fear, banish worry and so much more. So why stand in silence, when your very prayers (spoken quietly to yourself or out loud) can change your life and those around you? God says in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call upon me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.” Imagine that. The God of all creation wants us to have a personal conversation with him. Utilizing prayer is the very key that opens the door to his heart, thereby giving peace to yours.