Thursday, March 18, 2010
It’s really amazing how creative the Lord can be in answering your prayers!
This morning, I got on 963 and decided, although I was feeling lazy, to take out the little pocket “Imitation of Christ” which I had left in my sling bag. The line which I was supposed to memorise for the rest of the day says “Son, walk before me in truth and always seek me in the simplicity of your heart.” Those were Christ’s words to me. I thought about it, and struggled again, as I have been struggling of late. I didn’t know how to go about doing it. It reminded me of a part of the conversation I had with Justin yesterday, too.
It just so happens that I’m in logic lecture right now, and I decided to spend the time looking for some Taize hymns in preparation for the meeting which I’m going to have with Brian and Kelvin in anticipation for their next CG session on Tuesday. And after singing some really beautiful new songs to myself through sight-reading, I came across this:
If we take as our guide the oldest prayer book, the biblical Psalms, we note two main forms of prayer. One is a lament and cry for help. The other is thanksgiving and praise to God. On a more hidden level, there is a third kind of prayer, without demands or explicit expression of praise. In Psalm 131 for instance, there is nothing but quietness and confidence: "I have calmed and quieted my soul … hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore."
At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words. "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Like the satisfied child who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can "my soul be with me" in the presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.
Wow. Reading it touched my soul, truly. I felt that familiar goosebumpy feeling I get whenever something strikes a chord with something intimate in my heart. I thought: this really answers my question from this morning. So I read on:
How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me." Silence means recognising that my worries can’t do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.
Absolutely beautiful. Beautiful words.
“Loud words certainly make themselves heard; they are impressive. But we also know that they hardly touch the hearts. They are resisted rather than welcomed... God does not want to impress, but to be understood and accepted. God chose "a sound of sheer silence" in order to speak. When God’s word becomes "a sound of sheer silence", it is more efficient then ever to change our hearts.”
In silence, God’s word can reach the hidden corners of our hearts.. In silence, we stop hiding before God, and the light of Christ can reach and heal and transform even what we are ashamed of.
Silent and poor, our hearts are overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, filled with an unconditional love. Silence is a humble yet secure path to loving.
I feel inspired. Inspired to meet up with my comm members and have a simple Taize session together :)
@12.51pm
