Wintering At The Common Room: A Place And Time To Unplug And Unwind

Be quiet.

That’s not an order. It’s an invitation to take time for reflection at Wintering at The Common Room: An Open Time of Silence, Stillness and Rest. Every Wednesday, from January 10 through February 7, Zion Lutheran Church of Pittsfield opens its Common Room for anyone who wants or needs to sit in stillness, rest in darkness, offer a prayer, just be. From 4:30-6 p.m., individuals can come when they want and leave when they want. For those who need it, there will be a guided silence and prayer at 4:45-5 p.m. It’s an opportunity to commune with the winter season and its purpose in nature...and in our lives.

The Common Room at the church is usually a busy and sometimes loud place, open to community activities — farmers markets, classes, concerts and worship. The beautiful, historic space has been welcoming its neighbors for several years. Recently, feeling himself hungry for rest and quiet, the church's pastor, Joel Bergeland, happened across the book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, a bestseller by Katherine May, a meditation on the meaning of winter. There are times, proposes the author, when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves.

"Every other species has its winter practices,” Bergeland says. Birds migrate, animals hibernate, trees drop their leaves. “Don’t pretend it’s not happening — lean into it. It’s a season that demands a spareness and a rest.”

Bergeland’s curiosity was piqued. What if, he thought, we opened up this beautiful, historical, and usually hubbub-filled space, and it was quiet and dark? A space, says the Facebook invitation, to release the day, welcome the evening, sit in stillness, rest in a darkness, light a candle, offer a prayer?

The pastor stresses that the weekly event is primarily a DIY practice opportunity. Some will want to be on their own, he says. Others may need a bit of handhold into the deep, into the silence.

“For 15 minutes, I will be there to bookend the silence with a little instruction, probably a prayer, perhaps a reading. We’re wired differently and need different things, so we’re trying to be intentional about it.”

Come when you want, leave when you want. Embrace the silence, which is a practice.

“We need to practice it,” says Bergeland. “It’s a learned skill. Even if people stay for five minutes, that’s a huge accomplishment.”

Wintering at the Common Room: An Open Time of Silence, Stillness, And Rest
Wednesday, January 10-Februrary 7, 4:30-6 p.m.
Zion Lutheran Church of Pittsfield
741 1st Street, Pittsfield, MA