Silence
Γεια σου, Δ.Α.!
I had an encounter with things of me that I don't like. Things that haunt me. Things that, if I were a different man, would break my spirit. I'm talking about my personal miseries. I had a dream where you telling me things like: "I don't trust you." "I don't want to talk to you." "We cannot be friends."
Have you noticed that when we watch TV and a commercial break starts, the volume increases? Take notice of that, it tends to happen quite often. The world in which we live in has many voices that want to be heard. And what does a voice do whenever it wants to be heard? It speaks even louder. It may even scream in order to be heard.
How do you think God makes himself be heard? How does He makes himself be heard in my life? in my personal life? Perhaps, I should rephrase my question... Am I interested in hearing God? Do I want to hear God, personally, in my life? And what can I do to hear God speak when I have so many other voices surrounding me (and even inside of me) that also want to speak?
Something that I've learned from very young is that God, to be heard, has chosen the way of silence. God is that one who speaks the most softly out of all of the voices we hear in the world. He speaks softly. Ok, sure, He also speaks loudly (there are moments when he speaks VERY loudly), however, He normally is heard within silence because he speaks so softly. He speaks so softly that if we don't want to hear Him we won't hear Him at all.
Wanting to hear Him is to learn silence. To give time to silence. To look for spaces for silence. Physically and during our daily routine. To give time to silence. When we give time to silence, and when we learn to be silent, God talks to us and we can hear God.
I think the great master of silence is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who takes us to silence, who teaches us silence, and guide us to the word of God, who makes us capable to listen, understand and welcome God's word so that it can live in us, and be alive in us, and transform us. The Holy Spirit, is an indispensable element to be able to hear God who speaks to us. The Bible, for that matter, is also an unavoidable element to be able to hear God who speaks to us.
We cannot make silence, we cannot be attentive to hear the word of God, if we do not let the God work in us. Like rain that falls into the ground to make seeds blossom, the word of God comes to us to work on us, to make grow what was already planted in our hearts. And we can do that every day, even if we are very busy. The question is whether or not we want to. Do we want to hear when He speaks to us?
So, here is where the fact that today was Pentecost was providential. When Jesus presents himself to the apostles, to give them the Holy Spirit, he also gives His intentions. The same way the Father had sent Him, He also wanted to send the apostles... For me, this sending on a mission becomes a questions of whether I am ready... Do I want to hear God who speaks to me? Do I want to meet God who speaks to me? Am I ready to hear the call that he makes to me to convert? Am I ready to hear that I need to be saved? That I need a savior? From my sins and its consequences?
I am ready. I do want to hear Him. I want to hear God that opens my eyes to see that I need to be saved from my sins. It's sort of like seeing a doctor. We hope that the doctor might tell us, "There's no problem! Everything is ok!" But if we have a problem, do we want the doctor to tell us this? Of course not! We might not like what we hear from the doctor, but we have to work on getting our health back! And another thing: When the doctor tell us that we are sick, is it because he wants to condemn us? Does he want us to become sad? Or is it a way to reject us? No! It is to help. To heal. To find and walk a path of healing.
When God talks to us, He help us recognize the presence and action of sin, but we need to open ourselves to His healing action. Starting by forgiveness. After forgiveness comes sanctification. He has the power to transform us, to makes us capable to love. To fortify our lives to be more generous more truthful. It's a healing that can transform us. The gesture of how Jesus expresses this divine power to sanctify and transform is through the image of breath. Like when Jesus transfers his spirit to the apostles.
This is His power of renewal. There are specialists that are in charge of renovation of houses... When they finish their work, is the house the same as before? No. Christ has the power to renew our heart. He doesn't recreate it, since it is the same heart, but he renews it in depth it to be able to see the good, the beauty, and the truth. We may have good thoughts to become a good person, but to put in to action, all days, humanly speaking, is impossible... but for God this is is possible.
My experience today was of renewal. Yes, these words that were said to me... They do make me realize that I need to work on becoming a better person. I need to be renewed by God. I need to see that I am constantly being saved Him... But I need to see Him in silence.
Hearing and talking to Him in silence the Holy Spirit can come to work in us. And it is through Him that Christ can forgive us, and renew us, and transform us. And the forgiveness that seemed impossible, becomes possible. And the acceptance of my sickness and my sufferings, my situations of loneliness which seem impossible to overcome, become possible... and I will find a new freedom. I will find that I am transformed because I am open to the Spirit when I receive it through silence.
I had an encounter with things of me that I don't like. Things that haunt me. Things that, if I were a different man, would break my spirit. I'm talking about my personal miseries. I had a dream where you telling me things like: "I don't trust you." "I don't want to talk to you." "We cannot be friends."
It wasn't a good dream. I do recognize that I am abortion of a good man, and that I am an inherently flawed man... But trust me, I am doing my very best to work to become the best man I am meant to be... In any case, I think it was providential that I had this dream today, in the feast of Pentecost. It was as if the Good Lord was talking to me through the dream that was telling me all these things... Let me elaborate on that.
Have you noticed that when we watch TV and a commercial break starts, the volume increases? Take notice of that, it tends to happen quite often. The world in which we live in has many voices that want to be heard. And what does a voice do whenever it wants to be heard? It speaks even louder. It may even scream in order to be heard.
How do you think God makes himself be heard? How does He makes himself be heard in my life? in my personal life? Perhaps, I should rephrase my question... Am I interested in hearing God? Do I want to hear God, personally, in my life? And what can I do to hear God speak when I have so many other voices surrounding me (and even inside of me) that also want to speak?
Something that I've learned from very young is that God, to be heard, has chosen the way of silence. God is that one who speaks the most softly out of all of the voices we hear in the world. He speaks softly. Ok, sure, He also speaks loudly (there are moments when he speaks VERY loudly), however, He normally is heard within silence because he speaks so softly. He speaks so softly that if we don't want to hear Him we won't hear Him at all.
Wanting to hear Him is to learn silence. To give time to silence. To look for spaces for silence. Physically and during our daily routine. To give time to silence. When we give time to silence, and when we learn to be silent, God talks to us and we can hear God.
I think the great master of silence is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who takes us to silence, who teaches us silence, and guide us to the word of God, who makes us capable to listen, understand and welcome God's word so that it can live in us, and be alive in us, and transform us. The Holy Spirit, is an indispensable element to be able to hear God who speaks to us. The Bible, for that matter, is also an unavoidable element to be able to hear God who speaks to us.
We cannot make silence, we cannot be attentive to hear the word of God, if we do not let the God work in us. Like rain that falls into the ground to make seeds blossom, the word of God comes to us to work on us, to make grow what was already planted in our hearts. And we can do that every day, even if we are very busy. The question is whether or not we want to. Do we want to hear when He speaks to us?
So, here is where the fact that today was Pentecost was providential. When Jesus presents himself to the apostles, to give them the Holy Spirit, he also gives His intentions. The same way the Father had sent Him, He also wanted to send the apostles... For me, this sending on a mission becomes a questions of whether I am ready... Do I want to hear God who speaks to me? Do I want to meet God who speaks to me? Am I ready to hear the call that he makes to me to convert? Am I ready to hear that I need to be saved? That I need a savior? From my sins and its consequences?
I am ready. I do want to hear Him. I want to hear God that opens my eyes to see that I need to be saved from my sins. It's sort of like seeing a doctor. We hope that the doctor might tell us, "There's no problem! Everything is ok!" But if we have a problem, do we want the doctor to tell us this? Of course not! We might not like what we hear from the doctor, but we have to work on getting our health back! And another thing: When the doctor tell us that we are sick, is it because he wants to condemn us? Does he want us to become sad? Or is it a way to reject us? No! It is to help. To heal. To find and walk a path of healing.
When God talks to us, He help us recognize the presence and action of sin, but we need to open ourselves to His healing action. Starting by forgiveness. After forgiveness comes sanctification. He has the power to transform us, to makes us capable to love. To fortify our lives to be more generous more truthful. It's a healing that can transform us. The gesture of how Jesus expresses this divine power to sanctify and transform is through the image of breath. Like when Jesus transfers his spirit to the apostles.
This is His power of renewal. There are specialists that are in charge of renovation of houses... When they finish their work, is the house the same as before? No. Christ has the power to renew our heart. He doesn't recreate it, since it is the same heart, but he renews it in depth it to be able to see the good, the beauty, and the truth. We may have good thoughts to become a good person, but to put in to action, all days, humanly speaking, is impossible... but for God this is is possible.
My experience today was of renewal. Yes, these words that were said to me... They do make me realize that I need to work on becoming a better person. I need to be renewed by God. I need to see that I am constantly being saved Him... But I need to see Him in silence.
Hearing and talking to Him in silence the Holy Spirit can come to work in us. And it is through Him that Christ can forgive us, and renew us, and transform us. And the forgiveness that seemed impossible, becomes possible. And the acceptance of my sickness and my sufferings, my situations of loneliness which seem impossible to overcome, become possible... and I will find a new freedom. I will find that I am transformed because I am open to the Spirit when I receive it through silence.
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