Divine Silence

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

A time of stillness is to be treasured. During such time, we may hear more than we are heard. In Jonah we are given a message indicating that the word of the Lord came to him a second time, which instructed him to stop what he was during and get up to go to Nineveh, a great city, and proclaim the word of the Lord. Jonah walked miles in a day to get to the city, and entered crying out that in 40 days the city would be overthrown. However, the people of the city responded in belief by fasting and wearing sackcloth . . . God heard them in their acts of repentance and changed his mind about the destruction and did not cause harm to them. The people of Nineveh, a great city, were not so busy or so loud as not to hear the word of God from one, who traveled from miles away to bring the message from God.

In 2004, I traveled a days' journey by car from New York City to South Carolina. It was my first return to teach at Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, South Carolina after I had moved on December 1, 2003 from Greenville, SC to Harlem, NY. In the classroom there was no television or radio. We did not have a guest artist or professional entertainer. No one carried on conversation to disrupt the process of teaching. In fact, before any word was given on the subject matter for the theological students, I wanted us to hear a word from God. I had prepared to teach, but I was not prepared to precede God, so I requested silence. I did not ask for silent prayer, but silence. It was to be a time of just listening. We heard the wind outside, cars passing by, students beyond the doors talking, and even the whistling of another professor. Not one person reported hearing God, so we went into silent prayer.

The difference was in a time of silence, I did not ask for a focus on God. Just asked everyone to be in silence, and after a period of time speak to what they heard during the time of silence. However, reflecting on the time of silent prayer, everyone had something to say about speaking to God or what they heard from the Lord during their time of praying in silence. That day "divine silence" was born in my mind and soaked my soul. Divine silence is time spent listening to God, but more than hearing it is a time to be heard. A time of clarity of mind, moments of open heart, and soul searching before coming out with critical reflection - theology.

Let's tell God what we have heard and believe by the way we live. It is through our relationship with the Divine that our actions for the coming days, weeks, and months are to be developed. Having heard the word of God, turn to God in doing, speaking, and living. Someone once said: "Actions speak louder than words." May the acts of our lives speak the power of the divine silence that guides our living. Pray with me in the still of the night.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, be reflected in the living of our being, so the change in our cities reflect the forgiveness of God. Amen.