Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Silence, Solitude and Verbal Diarrhoea

I, who live by words, am wordless when
I try my words in prayer. All language turns
To silence. Prayer will take my words and then
Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns
To hold its peace, to listen with the heart
To silence that is joy, is adoration.
The self is shattered, all words torn apart
In this strange patterned time of contemplation
That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me,
And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended.
I leave, returned to language, for I see
Through words, even when all words are ended.
I, who live by words, am wordless when
I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen.

Madeleine L’Engle, The Weather of the Heart, p. 60


I'm learning to listen before I speak, rather than speak, to listen. I'm learning to be still and quiet, and be silent. God is there.

3 Comments:

Blogger Rochelle said...

Dad - I love this quote - it's beautiful. As an overcommunicator, I find silence difficult. Yesterday I sat in a church in Kigali, and was silent before God, and it was powerful. love you, Rochelle xo

10:35 AM  
Blogger Natalie Jill said...

This quote really captures what I've been convicted of lately.

Thanks for sharing,

Natalie

9:23 PM  
Blogger Constance said...

So often I find I speak most when I have nothing whatsoever to say. I share the conviction.

3:17 PM  

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