Week Four: Finding God in Silence…

Perhaps you’ve hoped, prayed, and waited for God to speak or you’ve spoken many words in your pursuit of God. Henrí Nouwen writes that God is present in the silence and that our pursuit of silence may be one of the surest paths to God.

While acknowledging the place of speaking and teaching, Nouwen reminds us that our words can often get us in trouble. James assured us that the tongue is a restless evil that the Desert Fathers and Mothers sought to overcome by “fleeing” the use of many words.

Out of this pursuit of silence, they found freedom to speak less but with greater insight and awareness of God.

 

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“Silence is the way to make solitude a reality. The Desert Fathers praise silence as the safest way to God.”

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“The Word of God is born out of the eternal silence of God, and it is to this Word out of silence that we want to be witnesses.”

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“Speaking gets us involved in the affairs of the world, and it is very hard to be involved without becoming entangled in and polluted by the world.”

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“Sometimes it seems that our many words are more an expression of doubt than of our faith. It is as if we are not sure that God’s Spirit can touch the hearts of people: we have to help him out and, with man words, convince others of his power.”

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“In order to be a ministry in the Name of Jesus, our ministry must also point beyond our words to the unspeakable mystery of God.”

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Read more in The Way of the Heart.

 

Reflection