I was sitting in our sanctuary in the quiet and dark. I happened to glance up and noticed sunlight streaming through upper windows and striking the Bible on our altar. I was intrigued and interested to see what passage the sunbeams might be highlighting. As I leaned over to look this is what I read, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,” Matt. 5:16.

Richard Peace in his book, Noticing God says this, “We need a God of everyday life, a God who is nearer to us than our next breath, one whose love surrounds us as we go about ordinary life. In fact, this is how the Bible describes God-as one who is present in our space/time reality. The challenge of course, is to apprehend the presence of God in the midst of our busy world.”

Is it just coincidence that the sunlight hit this passage which caused me to go further with God causing me to ask myself questions about how to best use my life and calling to bring light to a dark world? For me the answer is nope. I encourage you as well to accept the “challenge” of taking the time to look, watch and wait for the Lord to help you discern where HE WANTS YOU TO SERVE WHERE he wants you to “shine!”

See you on the path!

So what was my Big Insight when sitting at the piano? I realized this…without the pause between the notes there cannot be any music. (I can almost hear you laughing and saying, “Well of course!) But you see this “pause” transfers to our spiritual life as well…our times of prayer and contemplation.

You must pause, you must spend time in silence in order to hear God. If we are constantly talking, if we are always pounding away on the keys in joy, frustration, busyness and anger we will never hear the music of our Savior, the life He wants for us. STOP, PAUSE, LISTEN!

This has made a profound difference in my spiritual walk. To sit in quiet for a few moments, to open my spiritual ears. Try it this week and let me know how it is working for you. If you seek guidance let me know and we can spend some time in silence together.

Thomas Merton notes in his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, that “…contemplation cannot be taught. It cannot even be clearly explained. It can only be hinted at, suggested, pointed to, symbolized.” My “suggestion” spend some time in solitude, in silence, take  pause between the pounding keys and you will be surprised by God.

A number of years ago we were visiting our friends in Iowa. In their front yard is a very old tree. The local tradition claims this tree was standing when some of the first pioneers were moving west. As I stood there I could almost hear the tree sing a hymn.

I stand here gazing at the sky.

My roots digging deep in soil, rocky and dry.

Yet I sing each morning a hymn of praise

Giving thanks to the ancient of days.

I’ve heard tell of brothers and sisters of longer years

Sequoias in the west old and with no fears.

Beginning as younglings when nature’s refrain

Was a newer melody and not yet stained.

But here I was planted as people came with hope

Looking for new lives no longer wanting merely to cope.

Traveling west to plant families in this ground

To sing pioneer hymns and rejoice in nature’s sound.

Refusing to survivie on broken dreams

They made lives on prairies and near streams.

Now years later I stand here still bold and strong

Continuing to sing my pioneer song.

Then on our return this year we discovered the tree had died. Time to sing the last refrain…

The darkness has come,

My days are finally done.

I sang at each sun rise

But now nature has closed my eyes.

Do not grieve for me

I have been set free.

Sing now your hymn of praise

Giving thanks to the ancient of days.

Amen.

I have sat with Buddhist monks in China, I have studied Kriya Yoga, taken many retreats with Benedictine and Trappist monks, but have been most impacted by the gift of silence. Father John O’Donohue writes in his book, “To Bless the Space Between Us,” “Yet in our day-to day lives we continually fail to recognize the invisible life that renders the whole visible with luminous.”

So where is this going? I started taking piano when seven years old and over all these years have found comfort in sitting, often alone, just enjoying the music as it hangs in the air. Then last month I was sitting before the piano when the above quote came to mind. I had been thinking about contemplation, spiritual direction and my personal walk with God. That’s when the invisible became somewhat obvious for me and was now visible. The idea was very simple, I’m sure others have thought of this as well but now it all made sense.

So what was my big insight? What does silence, contemplation God and the piano all have n common?

Interested in my little bit of insight? I will write more about it soon…

I was standing outside and looking at the yard when I noticed these little flowers in the middle of the drying lawn. Which made me think of Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

Our time is short, our talents, gifts and opportunities will soon pass away. So what should you be doing for our God right now this moment in time. Serving, sharing, telling another about God’s Word? This is your day. This is your time. Don’t waste it for it will soon be gone. Peace.

As you listen to the news you wonder, you just wonder if the time is drawing near. I mean wars, fires, volcanoes, rampant poverty, sex trafficking and the list goes on and on. You almost hear the prophet Joel speaking in your ear…

Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;

wail, you who minister before the altar.

Come, spend the night in sackcloth,

you who minister before my God;

for the grain offerings and drink offerings

are withheld from the house of your God.

Declare a holy fast;

call a sacred assembly.

Summon the elders

and all who live in the land

to the house of the Lord your God,

and cry out to the Lord.

Alas for that day!

For the day of the Lord is near;

it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Joel 1:13-15

But then I looked out at the meadows at our friends house and this is what I saw…do you see It? Yes there it is a path, a Halak, a way through the valley, through the hills and darkness. No matter how rough our God walks with us. More than that provides us companions to walk with us. Today pray for our world lift up your hands in praise that there is a way. ‘For the day of the Lord is near…”

 We just celebrated an ordination of a young woman that grew up here in FCBC. What really impressed me was the women that showed up to support her ordination, to gather about her and lift this woman up to God. Which brought to mind a statement from Henri Nouwen.

He stated in his book Reaching Out, “If there were no students constantly asking for good teachers, there would be no good teachers. The same is true for spiritual guides. There are many men and women with great spiritual sensitivity whose talents remain dormant because we do not make an appeal to them.”

Take seriously your call to more intimacy with our Savior. Part of doing so is finding a companion to walk with you into the silence. Don’t hesitate to email, call or even write me for information on spiritual direction. You can even find more details at http://www.intothesilence.org or http://www.sdiworld.org.

See you on the path.

I was spending some time in silence in our sanctuary. At the front is a stained glass window that depicts the resurrection and a cross forms part of the support structure and then another cross hangs in front over the baptistery. Thing is…when the glass is lit you can’t really focus on the cross. Yet, as I was sitting there in silence and contemplating I realized this fact…sometimes it needs to be dark to really recognize God’s presence in our lives.

Now don’t get me wrong! I’m not saying go out into the world and seek things that are dark. But rather sometimes we must walk through darkness and as we do so, if we keep our eyes on the cross, we can move into the light. St. John of the Cross wrote a poem called, “On a Dark Night,” which captures some of what I’m attempting to communicate.

Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn, Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved!

Take some time today and let the silence move you deeper into your walk with Christ. He will journey with you no matter how deep the darkness may seem. He will bring you into the light of His love and into the companionship of others.

Check out my other page: www.intothesilence.org for information on spiritual direction. See you on the path…

I was reading Henri Nouwen’s Book, Reaching Out and was impacted by this statement regarding prayer. He notes,   “…three ‘rules’ are always observed: a contemplative reading of the Word of God, a silent listening to the voice of God, and a trusting obedience to a spiritual guide,” (p. 135). He goes on to say, “Without the Bible, without silent time and without someone to direct us, finding our own way to God is very hard and practically impossible.”

I have to say after forty years of ministry and as a Baptist I’ve come to appreciate what Nouwen is saying. The Word of God, with the Holy Spirit,  is the foundation, the root of our coming to know and love our God and Savior. Yet, this requires not just reading but also sitting with God’s Word and most of all listening (in silence). Then sharing those words and experiences with a spiritual director, a brother or sister in Christ.

Why this took me so long to come to understand and enjoy is hard for me to grasp. But…I am in the right place and the right time to enjoy sitting with my God letting the “silence move me” closer into a deeper relationship. I would encourage every believer to find a spiritual director and experience this as well.

If you ever need help doing so give me a call.