WHEN WE SUBMIT TO EMPTINESS and silence, we take our hands off the wheel and relinquish control to the Holy Spirit. You would expect we could enter that vulnerability with trust, but at first it feels tender and naked. We may feel stripped of all pretense and the protection of words. Our instant evaluations of time in silence are often scathing: we insist we have listened and haven’t heard one single thing. But when we aren’t busy controlling things, it is possible simply to become attentive—discovering our truest selves in the mystery of silence as we learn this special language of God. And change begins to happen, ever so slowly and subtly. It’s a bit like waiting for the grass to grow. A wise mentor once told me that the silence of God is not the silence of a graveyard but the silence of a garden growing. Everything may appear to be dead and lifeless when we stand in the midst of a winter garden, but elementary biology tells us that bustling activity is going on underground, where we can’t see it or control it. Sitting in silence involves the kind of emptying…that allows the spiritual soil of the soul to be tilled and readied for the divine planting of seeds. These seeds ultimately will yield the fruits of the Spirit in unexpected ways.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:39:14 +0000
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