"...listen to me; be silent while I teach you wisdom". - Job 33:33
Silence. Often times it can speak louder than words. At times silence can be comforting and other times it can be quite uncomfortable. I do not do well with silence. I find that I always require constant noise. If you are like me, you have a very busy life, filled with people who want or need your time and attention. It can get pretty noisy. And if you’re like me, you probably do not take as much silent time as you should…time with no phone, TV, computer, or music.
A while ago, I saw a movie that was the epitome of silence. The movie was entitled, “Into Great Silence,” and, boy, was I taken into that silence. The movie was about the French Carthusian Order of monks. The movie reflected on their lives and their devotion to God in the purest form, through contemplation and silence. The movie was almost three hours long and, aside from two minutes, was in complete silence. For the first half of the movie I couldn’t do anything but move about, shift in my chair, or text message my friend next to me. The silence was literally killing me. But after I finally settled into a hypnotic state, I began thinking about the silence and all the times that God spoke to me in the quiet. But, like sitting in the silent movie theater, I really had to listen and focus on what God was saying to me in my daily life, though often times I did not want to hear it.
When we do not listen to God and are not silent, we find that He has to shock or scare us to get our attention. Yet, when we sit back and listen, as uncomfortable as it may be from time to time, He can speak volumes to our hearts. God grows in silence. Yet, often times we push that silence aside. But it is in the times we are silent, God often teaches us how to live our lives. And sometimes, it is in that silence when we realize our vocation.
I challenge you to sit in silence, struggle through it, and listen to what God can teach you. God bless.
3 comments:
Wonderful post!
I watched "Into Great Silence" last fall after I bought it, and although I wanted to watch it, I wasn't really disposed at the time. In fact, I was exhausted and fell asleep. (I actually had a dream that incorporated the prayers in the movie, only it was Cardinal Arinze who was speaking, and he was basically making fun of me. LOL!)
Your post is the one that most motivates me to try this movie again. I have been waiting for the proper disposition...maybe I should REALLY be waiting for unbroken TIME.
I will likely watch this again during Lent, such a time of silence and penance.
God bless!
remember when lent comes
maybe we can garner a great number of people , all of whom agree to enter that silence together.
set a date and time and off we go to watch it simultaneously. and when we finally neter into it, fully, we pray for each other.
just a pie-in-the-sky thought.
Sometimes, I think, we're afraid of what the silence would tell us about ourselves.
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