The Journey to Orthodoxy 29 Oct 2006 04:06 pm
Waiting in the silence
I read this today and would like to share it. It is the blog of an Orthodox priest and it ministered to me today, a day that has brought me a weariness with naval gazing a desire to look more to Christ, more to the ancient, to the without. It’s a day where I’ve decided to lay aside asking how I’m doing and where I’m at, to begin asking who is He and where is He. I’ll ask and I’ll wait for “the echo, the Yes.”
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But as the years have gone by, I have come to see something I never saw before - the Presence within the absence. I don’t mean to sound too mystical here - only that I see in the hiddenness of God a revelation of His love. The Creator of us all draws us towards Himself and knowledge of Him, with hints and intimations, with seen and yet unseen signs.
The strange deniability that He leaves us is the space in which love is born. Love cannot be forced, cannot be demanded. It must come as gift, born of a willingness to give. To give God trust that what I see is indeed evidence of the wisdom in which He made all things is also a space - one which God fills with Himself and the echo, the Yes, that the universe shouts back to us.
It is where I grow weary of the arguments - not because they need not be made - but because it becomes hard to hear the silence in the noise of our own voices - a silence that invites us to hear the sound of the voice of God that rumbles all around us.”
on 29 Oct 2006 at 9:46 pm 1.Beth said …
I’ll say from my own experience, that silence (lots of it, long periods of it) are crucial, necessary, for spiritual growth. I daresay that until about 5 years ago, I had never experienced real silence….that of resigning myself to ” lay aside asking how I’m doing and where I’m at, to begin asking who is He and where is He”…. and observing silence until he gave me insight into that. And until that point in time, I never had really heard God. Too many voices, too many arguments, too much discussion/performance, too much church…and not enough silence. I hope you’ll follow your heart on this one.
on 30 Oct 2006 at 9:45 pm 2.Cathy said …
I was trying to look up the lyrics to “Could It Be,” an old Micheal Card song that talks about God making his presence known through his absence. I stumbled over this interview, and thought you might like it. Certain parts really resonated with me (esp. the “if you are a good christian you won’t suffer sentiment”). Anyway, the other blog reminded me of that song, which has long been one of my favorites. Do you want me to copy the lyrics? I have the songbook.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2006/michaelcard-0606.html