It is generally recommended that we seek silence in order to practice Step 11. We know that Jesus Christ used to seek out quiet places to pray. The Buddha suggested that silence was best for meditation. The prophet Elijah heard the voice of God, not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but in a still, small voice.

If we earnestly seek out a silent place to pray and meditate, we discover that our Western world has a conspiracy against silence. Everywhere we turn we find that people are making noise, a great deal of it unnecessarily. After a while we may begin to suspect that this is deliberate. In silence we hear only ourselves, and that is an encounter that most people would sooner avoid.

It may be that we can find somewhere quiet, or nearly so, in our homes. If we live with other people, they may accommodate us by trying to remain quiet as we pray and meditate. Elsewhere, we try and reduce the amount of noise we create. A significant number of us, for example, no longer listen to the stereo in the car; instead, we listen to ourselves. Before we turn on the TV or stereo at home, we ask ourselves if we're not seeking merely to be distracted. Listening in silence starts to become a part of our lives.