Today, for instance, I already know that in my diary is a business board and a safeguarding meeting, a scheduled phone conversation, a consultation with a corps (Salvation Army church) officer then a consultation with the whole leadership team. In between times there will numerous phone calls, conversations that need decisions making in them and I will attempt to get lunch with my wife, Catherine, and hopefully have a conversation with my children.
There will not be much time for silence on this typical day - apart from the very moments that I am capturing these words on screen! And even then it is not truly silent: there is a clock ticking, an aircraft flying overhead, the distant sounds of traffic on the motorway and even the soft pad of my fingers on the screen.
Silence is elusive.
For some of us silence is essentially where we commune with God on a deep level. The prophet Elijah experienced the glory of God in the silence at a time when he was depressed and burnt out, terrified and running away. He is told by God to await His presence on the mountain, winds, fire and earthquakes happen but after all there is silence and in the silence Elijah finds God - in the sheer volume of silence.
There are moments moments when silence is the only communication we can truly have with God: we will never have the words to praise Greatness, our requests so often seem selfish and crass, our thanks is weak in comparison to his generosity! our bowed head of penitence speaks louder than our 'I'm sorry' when undoubtedly we sin again.
Listen to the sound of silence - and hear the voice of God.
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