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| Special Articles & Letters |
| The following article was sent to Dr. Travis and he wanted to share it with you. We trust you will be encouraged and blessed by it..... |
Silence and prayer
If we take as our guide the oldest prayer book, the biblical Psalms, we note two main forms
of prayer. One is a lament and cry for help. The other is thanksgiving and praise to God. On a
more hidden level, there is a third kind of prayer, without demands or explicit expression of
praise. In Psalm 131 for instance, there is nothing but quietness and confidence: "I have calmed
and quieted my soul … hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore."
At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words. "I
have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Like the satisfied child
who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can "my soul be with me" in the
presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.
How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we
have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming
our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too
marvelous for me." Silence means recognizing that my worries can’t do much. Silence means
leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is
like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.
The turmoil of our thoughts can be compared to the storm that struck the disciples’ boat on
the Sea of Galilee while Jesus was sleeping. Like them, we may be helpless, full of anxiety, and
incapable of calming ourselves. But Christ is able to come to our help as well. As he rebuked the
wind and the sea and "there was a great calm", he can also quiet our heart when it is agitated by
fears and worries (Mark 4). Remaining silent, we trust and hope in God. One psalm suggests
that silence is even a form of praise. We are used to reading at the beginning of Psalm 65:
"Praise is due to you, O God". This translation follows the Greek text, but actually the Hebrew
text printed in most Bibles reads: "Silence is praise to you, O God". When words and thoughts
come to an end, God is praised in silent wonder and admiration.
The Word of God: thunder and silence
At Sinai, God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. Thunder and lightning and an ever-louder
sound of a trumpet preceded and accompanied the Word of God (Exodus 19). Centuries later,
the prophet Elijah returned to the same mountain of God . There he experienced storm and
earthquake and fire as his ancestors did, and he was ready to listen to God speaking in the
thunder. But the Lord was not in any of the familiar mighty phenomena. When all the noise was
over, Elijah heard "a sound of sheer silence", and God spoke to him (1 Kings 19).
Does God speak with a loud voice or in a breath of silence? Should we take as example the
people gathered at Sinai or the prophet Elijah? This might be a wrong alternative. The terrifying
phenomena related to the gift of the Ten Commandments emphasize how serious these are.
Keeping or rejecting them is a question of life or death. Seeing a child running straight under a
car, one is right to shout as loud as possible. In analogous situations prophets speak the word of
God so that it makes our ears ring.
Loud words certainly make themselves heard; they are impressive. But we also know that
they hardly touch the hearts. They are resisted rather than welcomed. Elijah’s experience shows
that God does not want to impress, but to be understood and accepted. God chose "a sound of
sheer silence" in order to speak. This is a paradox:
God is silent and yet speaking
When God’s word becomes "a sound of sheer silence", it is more efficient then ever to
change our hearts. 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.
Silence and love
Christ says: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you"
(John 15:12). We need silence in order to welcome these words and put them into practice.
When we are agitated and restless, we have so many arguments and reasons not to forgive and
not to love too easily. But when we "have calmed and quieted our soul", these reasons turn out
to be quite insignificant. Maybe we sometimes avoid silence, preferring whatever noise, words
or distraction, because inner peace is a risky thing: it makes us empty and poor, disintegrates
bitterness and leads us to the gift of ourselves. Silent and poor, our hearts are overwhelmed by
the Holy Spirit, filled with an unconditional love. Silence is a humble yet secure path to loving.
In Christ,
Archbishop Russ McClanahan
Province of St. Peter
The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches
2807 Trebark Dr .
Tallahassee , FL 32312
If we take as our guide the oldest prayer book, the biblical Psalms, we note two main forms
of prayer. One is a lament and cry for help. The other is thanksgiving and praise to God. On a
more hidden level, there is a third kind of prayer, without demands or explicit expression of
praise. In Psalm 131 for instance, there is nothing but quietness and confidence: "I have calmed
and quieted my soul … hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore."
At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words. "I
have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Like the satisfied child
who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can "my soul be with me" in the
presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.
How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we
have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming
our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too
marvelous for me." Silence means recognizing that my worries can’t do much. Silence means
leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is
like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.
The turmoil of our thoughts can be compared to the storm that struck the disciples’ boat on
the Sea of Galilee while Jesus was sleeping. Like them, we may be helpless, full of anxiety, and
incapable of calming ourselves. But Christ is able to come to our help as well. As he rebuked the
wind and the sea and "there was a great calm", he can also quiet our heart when it is agitated by
fears and worries (Mark 4). Remaining silent, we trust and hope in God. One psalm suggests
that silence is even a form of praise. We are used to reading at the beginning of Psalm 65:
"Praise is due to you, O God". This translation follows the Greek text, but actually the Hebrew
text printed in most Bibles reads: "Silence is praise to you, O God". When words and thoughts
come to an end, God is praised in silent wonder and admiration.
The Word of God: thunder and silence
At Sinai, God spoke to Moses and the Israelites. Thunder and lightning and an ever-louder
sound of a trumpet preceded and accompanied the Word of God (Exodus 19). Centuries later,
the prophet Elijah returned to the same mountain of God . There he experienced storm and
earthquake and fire as his ancestors did, and he was ready to listen to God speaking in the
thunder. But the Lord was not in any of the familiar mighty phenomena. When all the noise was
over, Elijah heard "a sound of sheer silence", and God spoke to him (1 Kings 19).
Does God speak with a loud voice or in a breath of silence? Should we take as example the
people gathered at Sinai or the prophet Elijah? This might be a wrong alternative. The terrifying
phenomena related to the gift of the Ten Commandments emphasize how serious these are.
Keeping or rejecting them is a question of life or death. Seeing a child running straight under a
car, one is right to shout as loud as possible. In analogous situations prophets speak the word of
God so that it makes our ears ring.
Loud words certainly make themselves heard; they are impressive. But we also know that
they hardly touch the hearts. They are resisted rather than welcomed. Elijah’s experience shows
that God does not want to impress, but to be understood and accepted. God chose "a sound of
sheer silence" in order to speak. This is a paradox:
God is silent and yet speaking
When God’s word becomes "a sound of sheer silence", it is more efficient then ever to
change our hearts. 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.
Silence and love
Christ says: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you"
(John 15:12). We need silence in order to welcome these words and put them into practice.
When we are agitated and restless, we have so many arguments and reasons not to forgive and
not to love too easily. But when we "have calmed and quieted our soul", these reasons turn out
to be quite insignificant. Maybe we sometimes avoid silence, preferring whatever noise, words
or distraction, because inner peace is a risky thing: it makes us empty and poor, disintegrates
bitterness and leads us to the gift of ourselves. Silent and poor, our hearts are overwhelmed by
the Holy Spirit, filled with an unconditional love. Silence is a humble yet secure path to loving.
In Christ,
Archbishop Russ McClanahan
Province of St. Peter
The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches
2807 Trebark Dr .
Tallahassee , FL 32312
| Dr Travis on "YouTube" |
| Double-click on the photo to be taken to the You Tube sight and Dr. Travis. |
