Preparing for an Online Quiet Day
A quiet day is an invitation to come apart from the world for prayer and reflection. Ordinarily on an in-person quiet day we ask people to plan to leave cell phones turned off and often provide lunch so that people will not need to leave the retreat space. This time you will be in charge of making preparations to create sacred space and enable yourself to have some sabbath time. What can you do to prepare for our time together so that you can be as comfortable, quiet, and undisturbed as possible? How can you create or refresh sacred space in your home? We know for some of you this will be challenging and it will be helpful to spend some time in advance reflecting on it and discussing it with those with whom you share your space.
There may be a gift for you in this experience of doing a quiet day in your own home when you discover new ways to set boundaries and create sacred space. Here are some suggestions and discoveries from past participants:
• put a sign on your door;
• ask companions not to watch TV or listen to music during the time of the quiet day;
• think about if you want to keep pets out;
• find a quiet corner in your home that you hadn’t yet realized was good for prayer;
• clean and decorate your space;
• perform a small ritual to prepare yourself and the space;
• do some praying, reading, journalling, or reflection to prepare yourself;
• decide to embrace whatever happens on the day.
Silent Lunch
We will break for a silent lunch. Many people consider this opportunity to eat a meal in community in silence a highlight of the quiet day. Since we will not be able to provide lunch for you, we invite you to plan and prepare as much as possible in advance a simple meal that you can eat in silence in your home. You might invite any companions in your home to eat in silence with you. The rest of the hourlong break might be spent reading, journalling, drawing, or resting. We will leave the Zoom turned on so that you will have the option to remain with the group with image on, turn your image off, or leave your device with image left on.
Be sure to keep your charger handy in case you need to recharge your electronic device during the quiet day.