Saturday, March 28

A reflection from Susan Presson

“If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.”   Albert Einstein

“Silence is a true friend who never betrays.”  Confucius 

For Elijah: Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence/a still, small voice. 1 Kings 19:11-12

So is silence complicity? ….or ….

Is God calling us in a “Still, small voice”?  

Which is it?

Today on ‘No Kings Day’ #3 I don’t need to focus on silence as complicity.  We are all doing everything we can to ‘speak truth to power’.  For me, showing up for a protest, that’s easy……. To be still and to listen, not so much.

But before I go out to demonstrate, Lord help me to be silent, to be present, to be open, and to listen.  That’s hard.  It’s so much easier to act rather than to ‘be’ and to listen.  Roderick MacIver says, “We each have a spiritual current that runs through our lives.”  Can I slow down and be silent, to feel that current, to join the flow of that current, and to listen?

“The first thing we often discover in solitude is our own restlessness, drivenness, compulsiveness, our urge to act quickly, to make an impact.”  (Henri Nouwen) But before  the action, the protest, the civil disobedience, let me, “Slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the gentle breeze and to come to know the Lord of my heart, soul, and mind, the Lord who makes me see who I really am.”(Henri Nouwen)

Help me, God, to be silent, to listen, and to know that I am Your Beloved.

Quote from a sign in Homer, Alaska:

“Look ordinary,

Don’t ask for much. Travel to your edge, then go further.

Empty out.

Let the moon refill you.

Embrace opposites easily.

Host travelers without borders, feed them,

Listen to the distance in their songs.

Nurture the invisible, harbor the young.

Send those you’ve raised out in the world.

Adopt SILENCE while others speak all around you.

Measure change calmly.

Mirror the sky.

At times,

BE STILL.