Silence

I believe it was Rage Against the Machine who once said, "Silence. Something about silence makes me sick. Because silence can be violence..." Why am I so quick to praise silence, yet so slow to practice it?

The desert fathers escaped the hustle and bustle of city life to seek refuge and silence in the wilderness (check out Nouwen's The Way of the Heart or Merton's Wisdom of the Desert for more), seeking out and hearing God in an unprecedented way. Benedict and Ignatius were the same way, and the people around them, as well as the world both past and current, gained immeasurable wisdom and peace through their long endurance seeking the Lord. I know this was greatly beneficial to them and those they ministered to. I know this would do wonders in my relationship with God. Yet I rarely do it.

The truth is painful. I make myself too busy to seek God in quiet. I'm often too lazy to make the effort to find a quiet place where I can listen to God without distraction. Most of all I'm fearful of what may actually happen. I'm afraid of having to change or be confronted with realities I do not want to deal with, though in my heart it means transformation. I want silence, I want to be transformed, yet I don't act like it.

What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. -Paul

Seeking Peace,
Matt

Currently Reading: Read, Think, Pray, Live by Tony Jones.