Silence

Do you ever pray for a sign and get nothing?

Do you ever feel like your prayers are met with silence?

I was listening to a wise pastor talk about silence.  He said that God isn’t silent because He doesn’t have anything to say, He’s silent because He already said it.

I remember learning (and coming to know as truth) the old adage, “You know someone is a true friend when you can be comfortable with them in silence”.

When you know someone well, you don’t have to chatter incessantly.  Although I will note here, I chatter incessantly with my best friend.  It’s like stream of consciousness spoken out loud.  We just laugh about how often we interrupt each other.  As in, “enough about you, let’s talk about me!”

Anyway…Usually when you talk, you want someone to listen and silence means they are listening.  God is listening.

I love going to Colorado.  I love skiing and I love the mountains.  I feel closer to God there.  I think it’s because of the silence.  When you get high up in the mountains, it’s silent.  What’s weird though, is the silence has a sound.  To me, it’s the sound of acceptance.  It’s the sound of peace.  It’s as if God is saying, “Here it is, what do you think?”  He created this magnificence and in the silence, we are reverent and awe stricken at its beauty.  In Rocky Mountain High (best sing along song ever), John Denver explains that in the mountains,  “You can talk to God and listen to His casual reply”.

That’s how I like to think of God’s silence.  It’s a casual reply from a good friend who understands what’s in my heart.  He’s a friend who accepts me and my stream of consciousness and will let me talk while He listens.

I want to be that kind of a friend too.  There’s a song I chose to be “my song” on a retreat once.  It’s called “Testify to Love”.  One of the lines in it really stuck with me.  It says, “I’ll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough.”

Sometimes words are not enough.  Sometimes silence is the best answer.

(This picture is of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and not the Rocky Mountains in Colorado but I had to share…it’s UNBELIEVABLE there.  Absolutely breathtaking!)