Good morning…
“We are on the same wavelength!” she texted. “Sue, I ordered the Henri Nouwen book you will be studying and read it in one day! Shared it with my women’s group this morning and also with a dear friend who is grieving the loss of her father.”
“I’ve always believed that true discipleship is listening,” she continued. “Now I’m learning it’s not just in the time spent with others, but also in the time spent alone with God too. From Nouwen I’m learning this: ‘…we have become so contaminated by the wordy world that we hold to the deceptive opinion that our words are more important than our silence. Therefore it requires strenuous discipline to make our ministry one that leads people into the silence of God. The whole of Jesus’ ministry pointed away from himself to the Father who had sent him. What a power our word would have if we could enable people to befriend their silence. The Word should lead us to create boundaries so we can listen to the loving, caring, gentle presence of God.'”
As I ponder this quiet quote, it invites me into the calming wavelength of summer. For June and July, I work just eight hours per week at the church. Fewer words. Less contact with people. Creating boundaries so that I can more keenly listen to the loving, caring, gentle presence of God.
What might it mean for each of us to develop the discipline of befriending our silence this summer?
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst (Lamentations 3:28-30, MSG).
…Sue…
P.S. Our Summer Zoom Study of Henri Nouwen’s The Way of the Heart begins tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. Revisit the details and join us if the LORD nudges.
P.S.S. Thanks to Corinne Adams for these exquisite photos from Africa which lead us into the sacred silence with God.
