I’m re-reading a book that I’ve always been very fond of. It’s called The Way of the Heart by Henri J.M. Nouwen, and it talks about 3 main spiritual disciplines: solitude, silence, and prayer.
I think the chapter on silence is in my opinion one of the most challenging, and counter-cultural, especially in today’s society where social networking/media has dramatically changed the way we connect with others, on one hand I would argue in a positive way, but on the other hand creating such a steady and amplified stream of noise to sift through, or tune out altogether.
Silence is almost unheard of on the internet. And in face-to-face social situations, silence is something we fight off with all of our might. Here’s a quote from the book I personally can relate to:
This might sound too unworldly to us, but let us at least recognize how often we come out of a conversation, a discussion, a social gathering, or a business meeting with a bad taste in our mouth. How seldom have long talks proved to be good and fruitful? Would not many if not most of the words we use be better left unspoken?
I really do have more times where I’ve met with someone, or been in a group situation and left feeling like I added nothing of value with my words. I was just talking to fill space, and to keep the conversation going. More often than not I feel like I maybe said something I shouldn’t have rather than feeling like what came out of my mouth was completely necessary and Spirit-filled.
Silence, as I’ve experienced it, is the way to Spirit-filled speech. It’s the way to being effective with what comes out of our mouths, rather than just being noisy. It’s the way to building deep community with others rather than infecting it with superficial chatter that flirts with gossip and slander. Silence is how we can carefully take a stand against something without slandering and dishonoring the offender(s). Not that we just don’t talk ever, but that by not being so easily given to wordiness, we become more sensitive to hearing God’s voice and his leading, and we become more sensitive to others. Instead of letting our words fire at will we become more life-giving creatures, honoring God and reflecting our love for God by how we honor even our enemies. This is in my opinion one of the most rebellious and effective things we can do as followers of Christ.
In a world where everybody is talking and having little positive effect on the world, we need to be the ones rebelling against the world, taming our tongues (James 3), speaking seldom, and when we do speak, speaking life-giving words born of the Spirit of God.
Tags: Christianity, henri nouwen, silence, speech, spiritual discipline
