Seal Fest and the Big Lunch

Know Your Neighbours are planning a "Big Lunch" and an afternoon of live music "Seal Fest" on Seal Recreation Ground (by the old Fire Station on Seal Road) on June 1 , from noon onwards. See below for more details and come along and join us on the day. Pass the word on by Facebook, email, twitter, or word of mouth and bring others. Music will start with school choirs, then some Morris Dancing and acoustic movement, with Rock bands from 3.30ish, so there should be something for everyone!

News from the Church of England

InReview May's edition of InReview, featuring news of £20m of funding for Cathedrals, a new initiative to increase numbers of Senior UK ME clergy, and more, is available here InFocus May's edition of InFocus, featuring a major conference on Anglican Religious communities, the Church's Annual attendance statistics, and more, is available here

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Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Thank you to all who helped to make our Holy Week and Easter services and events so successful.
Congratulations to baby Susie who was baptized this morning.

Sermons for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday can all be found on the sermon blog here.

Teach us to pray : 40

This is the last of the Lenten blog posts. I hope you have found them helpful. 
If you have questions on any of the types of prayer we have tried during Lent, please let me know. If you have suggestions on future blog post series, I would love to hear them.

Readings for Compline on Holy Saturday

Job 14.1-14, Matt 27.57-end

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.

On Holy Saturday there will be Compline at 8pm.
On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection with a joyful service of holy Communion and a Baptism too.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.

Good Friday Prayer displays

On Good Friday afternoon at Seal I put up a number of reflective displays for people to come and look at in their own time. They usually remain in church for at least a week after Easter Sunday, so if you haven't had a chance to see them today, you can pop into church on any day to spend some time looking at them.

 

We made shields at Messy Church, to remind us of the guards who guarded Jesus' tomb. They were determined that he would stay where he had been put, but God had other ideas. Come along on Easter Sunday to see what happens next...

The display asks us to think about whether we sometimes try to squash the new opportunities and new life that are offered to us. We can sometimes be "guarded" in our welcome for them too, and try to stop anything from changing, even if it would be for the better.

At the Good Friday service the choir sang "The Appeal of the Crucified" by Stainer. "From the throne of his cross the King of Grief cries out to a world of unbelief, 'O men and women, afar and nigh, is it nothing to you all you that pass by?'". The display asks us to think about the times we might turn away from those who need help, or feel we have been shunned ourselves. It explores the different ways Christians have portrayed the Cross in art,  and ponders the idea that the Cross could be a throne - that something awful could contain blessing. At Messy Church we made shiny, jewelled crosses (crux gemmata) out of old CDs (so now you know what I wanted all those old CDs for!)

The donkey Jesus rode on on Palm Sunday can't have ever imagined that this would ever happen to him. At Messy Church we made donkeys out of cardboard and jiffy bags (like hobby horses) The children enjoyed riding them around the church!

The display asks us to think about times when we might have felt silly or thought no one would ever choose us. There is also a reproduction of "The Donkey's Tale" by Margaret Gray - you can read it here. 

How do you feel about your feet? On Maundy Thursday we heard the story of Jesus washing the disciples's feet, despite their protestations that this wasn't his job at all. This display asks us to think about our feet. How do they feel, and how do we feel about them? How would we have reacted if Jesus had wanted to wash them The display has pictures of many different feet, and invites us to consider what prayer we might say for those whose feet they are. It also has this poem by Moses Schulstein about the mountain of shoes at the German Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek in occupied Poland.

Teach us to pray :39

Readings for Good Friday Compline

Lamentations 5.15-end , Colossians 1.18-23

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.
On Good Friday there will be a Messy Church session at 10 am, then the church will be set up with various focuses for self-guided reflection for you to drop in on throughout the rest of the day. From 2.30 - 3pm there will be a service of hymns, reading and prayer as we think together about the crucifixion and its meaning for us. The day will end with Compline at 8pm.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.

Teach us to pray: 38

Readings for Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12.1-14, John 13.1-17,31b-35

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.

On Thursday we observe Maundy Thursday with a service of Holy Communion at 8pm, followed by the service of Tenebrae, where we hear 12 readings taking us into the darkness of the night Jesus was arrested, extinguishing the candles that will light the church as we do so.
On Good Friday there will be a Messy Church session at 10 am, then the church will be set up with various focuses for self-guided reflection for you to drop in on throughout the rest of the day. From 2.30 - 3pm there will be a service of hymns, reading and prayer as we think together about the crucifixion and its meaning for us. The day will end with Compline at 8pm.
On Holy Saturday there will be Compline at 8pm.
On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection with a joyful service of holy Communion and a Baptism too.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.

Teach us to pray: 37

Readings for Compline on Wednesday in Holy Week

Isaiah 63.1-9, Jn 13.21-32

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there is Compline - night prayer - lasting 15 minutes or so, at 8pm in the Lady Chapel, preceded by 10 minutes of quiet music as we gather.
On Thursday we observe Maundy Thursday with a service of Holy Communion at 8pm, followed by the service of Tenebrae, where we hear 12 readings taking us into the darkness of the night Jesus was arrested, extinguishing the candles that will light the church as we do so.
On Good Friday there will be a Messy Church session at 10 am, then the church will be set up with various focuses for self-guided reflection for you to drop in on throughout the rest of the day. From 2.30 - 3pm there will be a service of hymns, reading and prayer as we think together about the crucifixion and its meaning for us. The day will end with Compline at 8pm.
On Holy Saturday there will be Compline at 8pm.
On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection with a joyful service of holy Communion and a Baptism too.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.

Teach us to pray: 36

Readings for Compline on Tuesday in Holy Week

Lamentations  3.40-51, John 12.20-36

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there is Compline - night prayer - lasting 15 minutes or so, at 8pm in the Lady Chapel, preceded by 10 minutes of quiet music as we gather.
On Thursday we observe Maundy Thursday with a service of Holy Communion at 8pm, followed by the service of Tenebrae, where we hear 12 readings taking us into the darkness of the night Jesus was arrested, extinguishing the candles that will light the church as we do so.
On Good Friday there will be a Messy Church session at 10 am, then the church will be set up with various focuses for self-guided reflection for you to drop in on throughout the rest of the day. From 2.30 - 3pm there will be a service of hymns, reading and prayer as we think together about the crucifixion and its meaning for us. The day will end with Compline at 8pm.
On Holy Saturday there will be Compline at 8pm.
On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection with a joyful service of holy Communion and a Baptism too.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day above, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.

HOLY WEEK AT SEAL CHURCH

COMPLINE

8 pm Mon – Sat (not Thurs)

Compline is a short service (about 15 – 20 mins) each evening at 8pm in the Lady Chapel from Monday to Saturday of Holy Week (except Thurs.)

“Compline” means “completion” and it was, and is still, the last service of the day in monasteries, completing the day’s worship. We use a modern form of this ancient service of prayers, psalms, Bible readings and silence. There are no hymns, so you don’t need to worry about singing!

There is some music to listen to beforehand to help us be still, and everything you need for the service is clearly laid out in the service booklet.

It is a reflective, intimate service, ideal if you feel in need of peace and quiet!

MAUNDY THURSDAY

8 pm

Our Maundy Thursday service is an informal service of Holy Communion, recalling the Last Supper which Jesus shared with his friends on the night before he died.

We hear the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and telling them that they too must be the servants of others. We remember also his words of reassurance to them that whenever they eat bread and drink wine together in the future he will be with them, the origin the Christian practice of Holy Communion in which we share bread and wine.

The service ends as we all go into the Lady Chapel for TENEBRAE. The lights in the church are turned off, except for one at the back for safety. The only other illumination comes from 12 candles on the Lady Chapel altar.

We then hear 12 readings from the Bible, telling the story of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane, of his arrest and trial. After each reading one candle is blown out until we are in darkness, reminding us of the darkness which Jesus faced.

The Maundy Thursday service lasts for just over an hour.

GOOD FRIDAY

MESSY CHURCH FOR GOOD FRIDAY

10 -11.30 am

Crafts and activities to help us think about Good Friday and Easter. 

We meet in church, where there will be a variety of activities for all ages exploring various Holy Week themes. Some of the activities could be quite messy! Wear old clothes!

At around 11 o’clock we break for hot cross buns and a drink, and then we finish with a short, very informal act of worship to share what we have made and thought.

Everyone is welcome, but we can’t take unaccompanied children as we aren’t set up to cater for them. (Actually mums, dads and grandparents usually have as much fun as the children anyway…!)

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE

2.30 pm

The afternoon service on Good Friday is a mixture of traditional hymns, readings and prayers reflecting on Jesus’ crucifixion. It lasts about 30 minutes.

During the service we reflect on the meaning of Christ’s death for today and pray for those who suffer from injustice and oppression as he did. There will be a short, reflective talk during the service and a chance to light a candle as your personal prayer.

GOOD FRIDAY

REFLECTIVE DISPLAYS

12 – 8pm Friday

During the afternoon and early evening of Good Friday there will be a number of different reflective displays in church. These displays encourage us to reflect and pray on various themes relevant to Holy Week and Easter. There will be quiet recorded music playing to create a reflective atmosphere.

You can drop in at any time and go at your own pace – there will be leaflets to guide you around the stations, but the church is not manned, so you can have privacy to reflect as you want to.

N.B. There will be a Good Friday afternoon service from 2.30 – 3pm, preceded by a choir practice from 2pm onwards.

EASTER SUNDAY

Holy Communion & Baptism

and the lighting of the Paschal Candle

10 am 

This joyful service of thanksgiving for the Resurrection begins as we light the new Easter (or Paschal) candle, a reminder of the light of Christ which even death could not put out. We light small candles held by the congregation – we all carry that light of Christ out into the world.

Easter Sunday was the traditional day for baptisms in the earliest days of the church, and we are delighted to be continuing that tradition as we baptise baby Susie this Easter.

HYMNS AND READINGS FOR EASTER EVENING

6.30 pm

A simple service of hymns, readings and prayers exploring the Easter message. 

Teach us to pray: 35

Liturgical Prayer
Prayer in the Christian Tradition is not something we simply do alone. We are also called to pray together, because the fundamental commandment of Jesus is that we should love one another, and we can't do that if we never gather together. We may not always agree with each other, or get along, but we are still members of one family.
Rather than posting suggestions for individual prayer through this week, I would like to invite you to find others to pray with, either at Seal or elsewhere this week.

There are services on every day through Holy Week in Seal Church.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there is Compline - night prayer - lasting 15 minutes or so, at 8pm in the Lady Chapel, preceded by 10 minutes of quiet music as we gather.
On Thursday we observe Maundy Thursday with a service of Holy Communion at 8pm, followed by the service of Tenebrae, where we hear 12 readings taking us into the darkness of the night Jesus was arrested, extinguishing the candles that will light the church as we do so.
On Good Friday there will be a Messy Church session at 10 am, then the church will be set up with various focuses for self-guided reflection for you to drop in on throughout the rest of the day. From 2.30 - 3pm there will be a service of hymns, reading and prayer as we think together about the crucifixion and its meaning for us. The day will end with Compline at 8pm.
On Holy Saturday there will be Compline at 8pm.
On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection with a joyful service of holy Communion and a Baptism too.

Come along and join in these acts of liturgical prayer, or, if you aren't in Seal, find a church near you to gather with others to pray. If you can't get to services, be aware that others both locally and around the world are praying along with you, even if you can't see them and they can't see you.

In order to help you journey through this week, I will post the readings for our services at Seal each day, so you can read them for yourself beforehand. You could use any of the techniques we have explored through Lent to help you contemplate them.

If you would like to use a liturgical framework for your prayer, you can find the Church of England's pattern of Daily Prayer here 
or there is a simpler pattern for Daily Prayer in this leaflet 
You can substitute the readings we will be using at our services during Holy Week at Seal if you would like to.


Readings for Compline on Monday in Holy Week

Lamentations 2.8-19, John 12.1-12

Teach us to pray: 34

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself
What do I think is going on here?
How are the people in it feeling?
What might they be thinking?
What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?
If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?
What do I want to say to God in response to this?

Eugène Burnand 1850 – 1921

Peter and John Running to the Tomb

oil on canvas (82 × 134 cm) — 1898Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Eugène Burnand biography

This work is linked to John 20:3

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/49.html

Pilgrim Course: Thanks

Our Pilgrim Courses have just finished. Here is a picture of our youngest Pilgrim... getting to grips with the material. She is to be baptised on Easter Sunday, so she should be very well prepared for the event! Thanks to all our (slightly older) participants, in both groups, for some very good conversations and reflections. If you'd like to keep meeting for discussion, there is the monthly Good Book Club on Wednesday mornings, and I am open to requests for an evening or weekend meeting (Good Book Club or even another Pilgrim course) if enough people want it.

Teach us to pray: 33

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself
What do I think is going on here?
How are the people in it feeling?
What might they be thinking?
What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?
If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?
What do I want to say to God in response to this?

Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

The Entombment

oil on canvas (300 × 203 cm) — ca. 1602/04Pinacoteca Apostolica, Vatican City

Caravaggio biography

This work is linked to Mark 15:46

Teach us to pray: 32

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself

What do I think is going on here?

How are the people in it feeling?

What might they be thinking?

What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?

If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?

What do I want to say to God in response to this?

Derick Baegert ca. 1440 – 1515

Mount Calvary

oil on panel (230 × 390 cm) — ca. 1475Propsteikirche, Dortmund

Derick Baegert biography

This work is linked to Mark 15:27

Teach us to pray: 31

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself
What do I think is going on here?
How are the people in it feeling?
What might they be thinking?
What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?
If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?
What do I want to say to God in response to this?

James Tissot 1836 – 1902

View from the Cross

gouache (25 × 23 cm) — 1886-94Brooklyn Museum, New York City

James Tissot biography

This work is linked to Mark 15:37

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/495.html

Teach us to pray: 30

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself
What do I think is going on here?
How are the people in it feeling?
What might they be thinking?
What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?
If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?
What do I want to say to God in response to this?

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669

Judas Returns the Silver Coins

oil on panel (79 × 102 cm) — 1629
private collection

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/451.html

Teach us to pray: 29

Praying with art

This week, I will be posting a picture for you to contemplate each day.

With each picture I suggest that you ask yourself
What do I think is going on here?
How are the people in it feeling?
What might they be thinking?
What am I drawn to or challenged by in this picture?
If I could talk to the characters, what would I say and how would they respond?
What do I want to say to God in response to this?

Jheronimus Bosch ca. 1450 – 1516

The Carrying of the Cross (Ghent)

oil on panel (77 × 84 cm) — ca. 1510Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent

http://www.artbible.info/art/large/380.html

Teach us to pray 28

Silence

This week might seem like a bit of a cop-out on my part, but all I would like to suggest for this week's prayer is that you simply sit quietly and breathe in and out during your prayer time.
Don't just do something: sit there!

You will probably find it helpful to begin by saying a short prayer; "God be with me" will do, as you breath in and out gently and relax your body. But then just sit still.

Thoughts will rise up, but don't pursue them; just let them go as if they are clouds drifting across the sky.
If you find yourself chasing after them or worrying about them, come back to your breathing again.

At the end of the prayer time, thank God for being with you.

More on silent prayer
Article on silence by Paula Huston
The Big Silence - BBC2 takes five volunteers to experience silence at Worth Abbey.
Silence in the City

Teach us to pray: 27

Silence

This week might seem like a bit of a cop-out on my part, but all I would like to suggest for this week's prayer is that you simply sit quietly and breathe in and out during your prayer time.
Don't just do something: sit there!

You will probably find it helpful to begin by saying a short prayer; "God be with me" will do, as you breath in and out gently and relax your body. But then just sit still.

Thoughts will rise up, but don't pursue them; just let them go as if they are clouds drifting across the sky.
If you find yourself chasing after them or worrying about them, come back to your breathing again.

At the end of the prayer time, thank God for being with you.

More on silent prayer
Article on silence by Paula Huston
The Big Silence - BBC2 takes five volunteers to experience silence at Worth Abbey.
Silence in the City

Teach us to pray: 26

Silence

This week might seem like a bit of a cop-out on my part, but all I would like to suggest for this week's prayer is that you simply sit quietly and breathe in and out during your prayer time.
Don't just do something: sit there!

You will probably find it helpful to begin by saying a short prayer; "God be with me" will do, as you breath in and out gently and relax your body. But then just sit still.

Thoughts will rise up, but don't pursue them; just let them go as if they are clouds drifting across the sky.
If you find yourself chasing after them or worrying about them, come back to your breathing again.

At the end of the prayer time, thank God for being with you.

More on silent prayer
Article on silence by Paula Huston
The Big Silence - BBC2 takes five volunteers to experience silence at Worth Abbey.
Silence in the City

Teach us to pray: 25

Silence

This week might seem like a bit of a cop-out on my part, but all I would like to suggest for this week's prayer is that you simply sit quietly and breathe in and out during your prayer time.
Don't just do something: sit there!

You will probably find it helpful to begin by saying a short prayer; "God be with me" will do, as you breath in and out gently and relax your body. But then just sit still.

Thoughts will rise up, but don't pursue them; just let them go as if they are clouds drifting across the sky.
If you find yourself chasing after them or worrying about them, come back to your breathing again.

At the end of the prayer time, thank God for being with you.

More on silent prayer
Article on silence by Paula Huston
The Big Silence - BBC2 takes five volunteers to experience silence at Worth Abbey.
Silence in the City

A brilliant meditation on the Creed

I often come across things I wish I had written... The post by Ben Myers on his blog "Faith and Theology" is definitely one of them! I it is a brilliant and powerful unpacking of the Apostles' creed, and it says everything I would want to say about it. 

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Faith in the dark: Lenten meditations on the creed

I believe

Not I know. Not I think. Not I feel. Not I understand. But I believe. When I am in darkness, when I do not know the way, when every step is uncertain, I walk. I live not by what I know or feel but by a trust that proves itself only after each new step is safely taken......

Read the whole post on Ben's blog here.

Teach us to pray: 24

Silence

This week might seem like a bit of a cop-out on my part, but all I would like to suggest for this week's prayer is that you simply sit quietly and breathe in and out during your prayer time.
Don't just do something: sit there!

You will probably find it helpful to begin by saying a short prayer; "God be with me" will do, as you breath in and out gently and relax your body. But then just sit still.

Thoughts will rise up, but don't pursue them; just let them go as if they are clouds drifting across the sky.
If you find yourself chasing after them or worrying about them, come back to your breathing again.

At the end of the prayer time, thank God for being with you.

More on silent prayer
Article on silence by Paula Huston
The Big Silence - BBC2 takes five volunteers to experience silence at Worth Abbey.
Silence in the City