album artwork 2023
Even in the indecisiveness of the Erie weather one thing is for sure: the season of Lent is upon us as we enter the month of March. During this self-reflective time, we, as Christians, take these 40 days to look inward of ourselves and take time for prayer, introspection, confession, and grace. This is able to look completely different for different people, too. So, it’s important to have an interpersonal experience with this liturgical season to receive the most from the experience. We take this time to prune old ways and grow more into the better and new way that we’ve been shaped into after the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter when Jesus emerged from the tomb on Easter morning, three days after his crucifixion on Good Friday. As you may know, this year we’ve been building in the energy within the songs that we have been reviewing, and with Lent being a time that is reflective and pensive, I think it works well being at the beginning of the year for the playlist that we’re building with energy that is still building. While I was searching for a song to review this month, when I stumbled upon “Sacred Silence” by Tom Booth after our Ash Wednesday service at Church of the Cross, this song seemed to fit like a glove to a hand!
“Sacred silence, Holy ocean
Gentle waters, washing over me”
Since I found a few great versions of this song that I enjoyed by other artists or arrangements of artists, I found that many of them featured Tom Booth or were a combination of him with a featured vocalist, so I decided to go with the version that was purely Booth from this 2003 album, “Unravel.” The song captures the essence of what we learned the season of Lent was about on Ash Wednesday, which was also the beginning of Lent. I had also picked this song because of a line in the chorus that mentions, “Gentle waters, washing over me,” which is a reference to our review from last month, “Water” by Austin Koukal, in which we reflected on our baptism. The piano in the beginning of “Sacred Silence” gives a sense of purity and innocence in conjunction with the violin strings while the soft self-reflective lyrics ease the listener into the headspace of humbling ourselves in repentance for our shortcomings and knowing that we are forgiven by the grace of God.
“God my father, Christ my brother
Holy Spirit, sanctifying me”
While the song is meant for more of a reflective and soft tone of a mood, there is still an instrumental building that is happening throughout the song. I felt that this is similar to how we should think of Lent too. While we are humbling ourselves before God, we should also be working on changing ourselves to be better by giving up something; or maybe even more importantly, as we were also reminded to do on Ash Wednesday, maybe by adding the right thing into the right place in our lives. By subtraction or addition, either decision that we choose to make should be aligning us into a better way of being and living, for ourselves and those around us. Just as this song builds in the sorrow and humbling, so should we.
“Help me listen, Holy Spirit
Come and speak to me”
There is also a message of listening within the “Sacred Silence” that is important to point out. While we are using this time to be introspective of ourselves and our ways and confessing and praying, which is a lot coming from us to God, it’s important to be silent in order to get a response. This silence can also look just as different for all of us just like our way of humbling ourselves for Lent, but it’s only in the silence that we’re able to understand a response.
“Saints and Angels, all in heaven
Come and be with me”
I hope that this March is reflective for you in the best ways, not in a way that points out all your flaws and makes you feel bad, but in a way that shows all of us that even though we may have flaws we’re able to grow from them if we allow ourselves with God’s help and grace to do so. May this 40-day journey though Lent be inspirational for you!
References:
Booth, Tom. “Tom Booth – Sacred Silence Lyrics.” Musixmatch, 2003,. Accessed 26 Feb.
2026.
Church of the Cross. “Ash Wednesday.” Facebook, 18 Feb. 2026. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.