dancing in silence

As a literature major and high school English teacher, I naturally tend to be wordy. Those who know me would readily agree that I bend toward verbosity. And so it makes sense that blogging might attract my attention as an avenue for satisfying this appetite for written expression. However, as a follower of Christ with an elementary but growing grasp of His kingdom way, I’m coming to find that less is more with regard to the spoken and written word. In fact, silence, rare though it may be in the daily experience or practice of the common American, is both characteristic of God Himself and of those who walk in the way of the kingdom. I am only now beginning to discover that silence is not the absence of communication. In fact, communication is often enhanced rather than hindered by silence.

I once heard about an interaction between Mother Theresa and a reporter (some have suggested it was Dan Rather) who had asked her about what she says when she prays to God. Apparently, she replied, “I don’t say anything. I just listen.” When the reporter asked what God says to her, she apparently replied, “He doesn’t say anything either. He just listens.” She went on to say, “if you don’t know what that means, I can’t explain it.” Whether it happened or not, something about this dialogue rings true. And for a talkative person like me who takes great delight simply in hearing the sound of his own voice, there is a warning here: don’t let your love for language limit your ability to listen. This could be restated in the form of a beatitude: Blessed are the silent, for they hear the voice of God.

Since the start of the new year, I have been praying James 1:19 for myself: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Although this admonition clearly applies to the spoken word, I also sense its relevance to the written word. The internet is reverberating with visual noise, and bloggers are among the primary contributors to this din. And so it seems potentially contradictory for me to be praying for a quickness to listen and a slowness to speak, while at the same time making my own contribution to the often self-gratifying concert of voices that scream and shout in type. Given that this blog is simply one exercise in my own exploration of lowliness, my hope and prayer is that my writing will simply be a whisper that draws the occasional attention of a fellow traveler; a journeyman who, like me, has grown weary of the sound of his own voice. And yet, in the wake of extended seasons of silence, we may venture to speak from time to time in order to practice a softer and truer tone and language that resonate with the rhythms of the kingdom.