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Religious: Silence and intimacy with God
Minister Sharon McRann
for South Peace News
I have a picture above my desk of a lone tree and underneath it are the words: “Nothing in all creation is so like God as stillness,” by Meister Eckhart.
Our practice at High Prairie and McLennan United Churches is to have just a few minutes of silent time each Sunday morning to “listen to God.” It is a time when we can let go of all the outer noise and hopefully empty ourselves of some of the inner noise as well.
Sometimes, if little children are in church, we hear cries, squeals, laughter, and chatter during the quiet time. I always assure parents and grandparents that it is OK because, what better way to listen to God’s voice than through children?
Often, I walk the dog in the early morning. We live on an acreage, and now I know what they mean when they say, “The silence is deafening.” There’s not a sound anywhere except on the days when the birds are out or if a truck roars down the highway … and yet … there again is God. God makes Godself known to us in nature and in the business of life.
Yet it is in stillness that we notice God’s presence … in the silence and in the things that interrupt the silence.
In order to remember God, in order to recognize and acknowledge God, it is important that we slow down, make space and concentrate on the things of God. In the Bible, we often read that Jesus took time to retreat or to go off by Himself to pray. He chose a place and a time to not only talk to God, but to listen to God.
God has good things to say to us if we would only listen. Turn off all the distractions: the radio, TV, the computer, phone, iPods, etc. Get away from the hubbub of daily life and spend a few minutes in silence and alone with God. You might be surprised at how much tension falls from your shoulders.
You might be surprised at what comes to your inner consciousness, at what is revealed to you about concerns that you might have and at the insights that suddenly spring up.
Some days I take the opportunity to sit for a short while in the sanctuary of the church. It is wonderfully quiet and there is a sense of awe that is present in this Holy place. A sanctuary is a safe place, a place of protection, a holy place, a sacred place and a refuge. God offers us all of those things when we turn to God with our lives.
When we open ourselves to God, God offers us companionship, guidance, comfort, and love. God speaks to us in unexpected ways, usually not through words but through creative inspirations and ideas.
There is no better place to be than in the presence of God. We do this in the stillness and quiet where we can focus on God’s love for us. Quiet your body, your mind and your heart.
There are many passages that remind us to be quiet. Psalm 23:1-2 says, “God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.”
Or, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Psalm 119:114 says, “You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your word to renew me.”
Psalm 107:30 says, “They were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.”
The less busy we are, the more we feel the presence of God.
“For God alone my soul waits in silence, from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be broken.”
Psalm 62:1-2. Silence is golden when seeking God’s presence. Silence enables us to hear with our hearts as God speaks from his. God bestows God’s blessings upon us in quiet places. In the hymn, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,’ we hear the words, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!”
As we wait and watch in silence, God touches us with the blessing of God’s presence.
Silence calls us into intimacy with God. In silence God offers us the gracious gift of Godself.
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