A Quiet Week
In The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen told of traveling through a large city when it began to feel as though he were driving through a dictionary:
Wherever I looked there were words trying to take my eyes from the road. They said, “Use me, take me, buy me, drink me, smell me, touch me, kiss me, sleep with me.” In such a world who can maintain a respect for words?
Nouwen went on to suggest that the words with the most power to speak into our souls are those which come from silence. Not word upon word upon word.
Over the last long while, the journey has taken me off in search of a place I describe with two words: quiet and spacious. My soul seems quite insistent on this very thing. A quiet, spacious place. One where God is not asked to shout over the noise and where He has enough room to move.
It’s not that He can’t be found anywhere else — He can be found wherever He likes.
But it’s where I’m finding Him best.
And these days, I really need to find Him.
::
I’ll be practicing that silence here for the next handful of days, letting some space open and asking Him to speak from the stillness.
This week I’ll not add to the dictionary you drive through.
I invite you to savor the quiet.
::
The more talk, the less truth;
the wise measure their words.
::
Nouwen, Henri J. M. The Way of the Heart:
Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry.
New York: Seabury, 1981. Print.
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2011/11/20 at 10:21 PM
Blessings.
2011/11/20 at 10:29 PM
Yes …
2011/11/20 at 10:58 PM
Oh yeah – just right. Enjoy.
2011/11/21 at 1:01 AM
“He can be found wherever he likes.” Yes.
2011/11/21 at 8:07 AM
mmm hmmm.
2011/11/21 at 8:31 AM
You say much, even when you say little.
2011/11/21 at 11:23 AM
OOOh! this is so good, and right where He has me too. Enjoy!
2011/11/21 at 1:54 PM
Yes – quiet and spacious. Praying you find Him fully in the peace.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving Lyla.
2011/11/21 at 5:21 PM
There you go! Challenging us to not be silent about silence. Given the fact that God has invited us to speak to him as our Father, I have always wondered what He meant when He said, “Be still and know that I am God” So I will quietly continue to wonder, exploring silence, ever careful of what I say, when I am not speaking, as well as when I am.
2011/11/21 at 7:44 PM
Love
2011/11/21 at 9:04 PM
Just want to say that snowy pinecone–ahh!
2011/11/22 at 4:18 PM
Interrupting the silence to wish you and yours a wonder-filled Thanksgiving.
2011/11/23 at 2:23 PM
The picture-parable quietly speaks for itself.
2011/11/25 at 4:34 PM