My journey...
Monday, April 14, 2008
There is a time to speak and a time to be silent
The Bible warns against talking too much. "Is there no end to windy words?" asked Job (Job 16:3). "The more words, the more vanity... There is a time to speak and a time to be silent..." (Ecclesiastes 6:11; RSV) Be silent, and let that be your wisdom. Jesus said of the Pharisees: ‘They think God will hear them for their many words.' (Matthew 6:7)
What is clear in the life of Jesus is that he listened with all his senses. The Gospels often remark, ‘He knew what was in their hearts.' - whether it was the scribes laying traps for him, or the disciples in a state of puzzlement or unease. He listened to people, watched their faces, sensed what was in their guts. When they were about to stone the adulterous woman, he did not give out to them, but said just one sentence: ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.' (John 8:7) After that he was silent and doodled in the sand, feeling the fury and shame of the would-be killers as they trooped out, beginning with the oldest.
When we meet Jesus in prayer, we do not need to explain. He reads our hearts too. One of the joys of prayer is that it opens our hearts to us, so that we realise our own jealousies or resentments, our deeper feelings. To meet him in this way, we need to be still and stop making words.
