Hush

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

4. I will live, speak and act with courtesy, respect, and honesty toward friend and enemy, neighbor and stranger.

("A World without Words" by Christian V. via Flickr)

We live in a world of many words. More words flying around than at any time in history. Twitter, blogs, 24-hour news, billboards, morning radio shows, sermons, email marketing campaigns, newspaper editorials. Words are cheap, words are abundant, words have to out-shout the others to even be heard and “go viral.” Many of our words end up unheard, ignored, misunderstood, simply drowned out. Or they bring undo fear, pain, division, hatred. Or worse, they distract us, deafen us, numb us and cause us to miss God’s voice. 
 

Long Christian history (and other spiritual traditions) offers a forgotten spiritual discipline that is a key to following Jesus as peacemakers: Silence. When we are truly silent (including our own interior chatter) we are left to pay attention to God. To overcome the violence, misunderstandings, and anxiety in the world God calls us to listen carefully to God’s own words rather than ours. In attentive silence we listen for God speaking, telling us how to carry out the peaceable actions of today’s vow: “I will live, speak and act with courtesy, respect, and honesty toward friend and enemy, neighbor and stranger.” 

For Reflection and Action:

(a) Sit quietly with the words of Jesus in John 14:10 –

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”

• Read it slowly to yourself at least three times.
• Listen quietly, patiently for what words God is speaking in you. (If you don’t hear anything or your mind is too noisy, take some more time, continue to read the verse as a prayer.)
• Respond to God’s words.

(b) Choose a day or an hour this week to practice attentive silence. Fast from excessive spoken or written words. (This may look different for introverts and extroverts.) Be very measured in your emails, refrain from Facebook posts, let others tell the stories at lunch, fast from online articles or news, ask for a few extra seconds or minutes before responding to a coworker or spouse, turn off the radio in the car, music at work or TV at home and listen to the sounds and voices around you. Pray.

Prayer Focus

Jesus, the words you spoke were words from God.

Not words you alone decided on, but Gods.

In my silence today,

may my words be God’s.