Speechless

Today's Scripture

I am just going to preach to myself this morning, feel free to listen in.

Sometimes the appropriate response is silence. We tend to think of silence as the absence of sound, like darkness is the absence of light. From a scientific perspective this is probably a well-founded belief. From a spiritual perspective, silence is making room for something.

On Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have the privilege of roasting a huge turkey for my family. When it is time to serve the turkey, I take great pride in carving and arranging the turkey on platters to be placed on the table. As I carry the platter in, others will quickly work to make room for the turkey platter. It doesn't matter what the other things are - they are moved. Potatoes - moved. Gravy - set aside. Vegetables - see ya! The turkey is given prominence of place on the table.

When we are silent, we give something else, someONE else perhaps, prominence of place in our heart. In conversation, this gives the other time to thoughtfully share something that is important to THEM. Our silence says: you are important to me, let me clear some room. Our silence also says: you have something to teach me. Fr. Michael Gallagher speaks of the 'classroom of silence'.

In our Gospel today, we hear Zechariah reacting to the Angel's news for him with questions, just as we all would. Some of those questions arose from his disbelief. The Angel then gives Zechariah the gift of silence. Time to let the Lord speak to his heart. Nine months of silence. This silence was incredibly fruitful - for when it was lifted, Zechariah spoke his canticle of tremendous faith and belief and prophecy and for him - certainty! An erasing of his doubt. This canticle, which appears in Luke 1:68 has literally been prayed trillions of times since it was uttered. Every bishop, priest and deacon in the world prays it every day, and this tradition stretches back thousands of years. That my friends, is some fruitful silence.

I have spent a considerable amount of time this year studying and thinking about listening, and now it is time for me to practice some. As you know, I spend time every day writing, speaking, teaching, and I am so grateful for the opportunity of this ministry. If I am going to bring forth Christ into this world this Christmas season, however, I, like Zechariah, need to spend some time in silence. So from now until January 6th (the Epiphany) I will be dedicating my normal writing time to additional time of silence - giving the Lord prominence of place in my thinking.

I am grateful for your listening and welcome your thoughts and comments during this time. Leave a comment below if you are reading on the blog page or reply in email if you are receiving this in your inbox.

May Christ be brought forth FROM your heart to the world this Christmas!