The silence of "Silent Night, Holy Night" is needed if we are ever to hear the Word of God spoken to us. St. Bernard of Clairvaux reminds us that our Source oftentimes acts like a "shy lover" who will not manifest himself to us when a multitude of other things are all vying for our attention. It is important, therefore, for us to create times when we shut the music off, refrain from filling ourselves with endless news items, and fast from the usual busyness in order to attend to The One Thing Necessary. When we practice silence and some form of contemplative prayer, we begin to discover our deepest desires and their connection to the Cosmos at large.
But there are times when we realize a deeper truth about Silence.
During these moments, we understand, as Thomas Merton says, that "when
we wait on the Word of God in silence, we are answered not so much by a
word that bursts into our silence." Rather, "it is the SILENCE ITSELF,
suddenly, inexplicably, revealing itself to us as a word of great power,
full of the voice of God."
This is a very profound reality. We might in fact think of it this way: Every creature we encounter and every daily event is actually a "Thou" spoken lovingly by God within the depths of all things. However, because of divine self-emptying, there is actually no "I" either to speak this "Thou" OR to receive it. All we have are echoes. What we think of as our own "I" is actually yet one more echoing "Thou." Because we can never pretend to set ourselves up as an observer standing outside this infinite web of "Thou"s, we soon realize that even our attempts at understanding THIS truth are themselves one of these endlessly echoing "Thou"s. And so, in fact, is THIS VERY statement, and then THIS, and THIS, . . . ad infinitum. When we become united to this profound truth, then suddenly - in a flash - we understand that the endlessly echoing Word does a sort of Crazy-Wisdom FLIP, revealing itself suddenly as ENDLESS SILENCE and completion. For there is then nothing outside it! In some ways, of course, it is useless to speak of this reality. It is better instead to experience it and let it change our lives!
Photos: (Top and Middle) Aspen and Ponderosa Pine trees growing next to the Gem Lake Trail, December 22, 2014; (Bottom) Snowy Engelmann Spruce trees along the Emerald Lake Trail, November 26, 2014. All three photos were taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.
This is a very profound reality. We might in fact think of it this way: Every creature we encounter and every daily event is actually a "Thou" spoken lovingly by God within the depths of all things. However, because of divine self-emptying, there is actually no "I" either to speak this "Thou" OR to receive it. All we have are echoes. What we think of as our own "I" is actually yet one more echoing "Thou." Because we can never pretend to set ourselves up as an observer standing outside this infinite web of "Thou"s, we soon realize that even our attempts at understanding THIS truth are themselves one of these endlessly echoing "Thou"s. And so, in fact, is THIS VERY statement, and then THIS, and THIS, . . . ad infinitum. When we become united to this profound truth, then suddenly - in a flash - we understand that the endlessly echoing Word does a sort of Crazy-Wisdom FLIP, revealing itself suddenly as ENDLESS SILENCE and completion. For there is then nothing outside it! In some ways, of course, it is useless to speak of this reality. It is better instead to experience it and let it change our lives!
Photos: (Top and Middle) Aspen and Ponderosa Pine trees growing next to the Gem Lake Trail, December 22, 2014; (Bottom) Snowy Engelmann Spruce trees along the Emerald Lake Trail, November 26, 2014. All three photos were taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.
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