Day Six: Silence: Waiting for God's Word

¹¹He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
1 Kings 19:11-12

"The heavy storm on Mount Sinai was splitting rocks, but God’s silent word is able to break open human hearts of stone. For Elijah himself the sudden silence was probably more fearsome than the storm and thunder. The loud and mighty manifestations of God were somehow familiar to him. God’s silence is disconcerting, so very different from all Elijah knew before.
Silence makes us ready for a new meeting with God. In silence, God’s word can reach the hidden corners of our hearts. In silence, it proves to be "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit" (Hebrews 4:12). In silence, we stop hiding before God, and the light of Christ can reach and heal and transform even what we are ashamed of."
The Value of Silence, Community of Taize

My trip to the Community of Taize during my Senior year of College had a profound effect on me. Life at Taize circles around the three daily prayer services in which the entire community gathers for a period of singing, prayer, and most importantly, silence. The silence is uncomfortable at first, lasting for at least 10-15 minutes. Try sitting in silence for that long. In my experience, the first few minutes are occupied by whatever thoughts were currently swirling in your head. After that, you think about the silence. Eventually, your thoughts subside and you simply become a part of the silence. This is what the reading refers to as a "listening" silence. You shift to a state of reception, a state of listening for the word of God. Today, meditate on silence in silence. Start out with 5 minutes and work towards 10. Try to get to a state of "listening" silence. It isn't easy, but the benefits are profound.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14