One of the reasons people shy away from silence is because it is often in those moments that our demons rise to the surface: hidden resentments, jealousies, lust, rage. Like Theseus we have to enter our own maze to confront various minotaurs if we are to grow as individuals. Sometimes this may necessitate having some form of therapy or analysis to work through deep-rooted problems. As a first step it may require that we sit patiently with the uncomfortable feelings, acknowledging their presence in our lives. Only when we have sorted out the many pieces of our individual jigsaw can we begin to grow towards the person we are meant to be, to become whole.
At Bleddfa some years ago I bought for my late wife Lys, a few lines by Rossetti, the lettering drawn by John Hensher, who with his parter John Cupper made Bleddfa such a spiritual and holistic welcoming place,
The words:-
“Silence more musical than any song”
I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment, with no TV or radio for about 12 years now I spend many an hour in silence, with just the occasional sounds of nature.
I marvel at the young and not so young folk I pass on my dog walks in N Herefordshire, why they require the ear buds from their phones chirping away when the call of the Kyte, Buzzard, Raven, is heard above the songbirds below flocking before going off to breed, with the sound of the air blowing through the trees is all I need
On a journey to becoming the ‘me’ I believe I am nudged to be,
I find this message of James’ so affirming and true and am deeply thankful.
Silence is not always comfortable but it is so rich with God’s abundance. If we are willing to meet our own ‘minotaurs’ with him, it brings to those who share it a chance to find peace, a way to healing, to put aside the things that separate us from one another and major on what we share – each and every one of us – of the unity accepting we are the beloved children of ‘God, who so loved the world that he gave his son…’.
Every Blessing to each of you this Lent