Just finished a book by Barbara Brown Taylor entitled, When God Is Silent. It’s lovely, provocative, and rich in both heart and thought. As I consider God’s silence, I am struck by how rare my own silence is. I work to fill silence – whether an awkward moment relationally, or just the silence of a one-hour commute to and from work. What would it mean for me to allow space for God’s silence in my life by allowing space for silence in general?
I balk against it – against silence, period, but even more, against God’s. As I reflect on my own story, the scale has seemed tilted far more toward God’s silence, than God’s voice – despite my cries, and even demands. My spiritual director has asked me to consider if perhaps the prevalence of God’s (seeming) silence might, in fact, be the clearest evidence of not only God’s presence, but also God’s “voice.” Could it be that God’s silence is how God speaks? Could it be that God’s silence is, in fact, an affirmation, acceptance, and encouragement of my own voice? Could it be that God trusts my knowledge of God’s heart and God’s activity within my own life? Could the silence really be God’s voice saying, “you don’t need my voice booming from the sky. you have heard me well. go ahead and speak. go ahead and live. i am with you.”?
If that’s possible then God is speaking all the time – through me, through you. The question then becomes whether or not we will be quiet enough to trust the silence and believe that God’s deepest, most intimate presence dwells within…
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