Silence- Spiritual Detox

Silence is the child of wonder 

Ecclesiastes counsels that there's a time and place for everything... a time for "keeping silent and a time for speaking." Ecc. 3:7 CEB. One of the ways wonder is expressed is silence, because what are the words that can really describe wonder? We're led to silence, not more words. Silence is God's oft forgotten language.

True worship of God can happen without any words at all. Worship and prayer in the pagan world was known for pouring out the "empty words" Jesus mentions in Matt. 6:7. The mark of idolatry, then and now, is noise and wordiness, in contrast to our silence before God:

Doom to the one saying to the tree, “Wake up!”
        or “Get up” to the silent stone.
Does it teach?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
        but there is no breath within it. 

 But the Lord is in his holy temple.

 Let all the earth be silent before him.

 -Habakkuk 2: 18-20 CEB. 

If we keep quiet and listen, we might be able to hear what God is speaking to us, what our life is telling us. How else will we ever hear the whispers of the Holy One? Seeing anew with the eyes of wonder and marvel, our truest worship might be in the quiet of a new day, a dark night, or a sunset at Angel Fire (see photo). Along with quiet's theme song for Advent/Christmas, "Silent Night," recall the brilliance of the third verse of O Little Town: 

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

Using the tonic of silence, if only for a few minutes at a time, may be like a spiritual detox at first. It's here for the taking, but you have to choose it. The peace of Christ be with you.