Silence

Well…I’ve been silent for a while No blog. No sharing of thoughts. No words of wisdom (if that’s what they are). Maybe you’ve been disappointed. Maybe you’ve been relieved (although if you have, I’m wondering why you’d be reading this blog). It’s been a time of silence. A silence from me at least. In a blog anyway. Because I’ve not been silent. Not silent at all. I’ve been speaking in church, in the hospital, over the ‘phone, in the coffee shop, on the street, in the gym to name just a few places. I’ve been writing talks, giving talks, counselling, visiting. listening, preparing, organising, emailing. I’ve been really busy actually. And, oddly, I’ve been silent because I’ve been busy. And, also, I’ve been silent because, in truth, I didn’t know what to say. Which has got me thinking. There are four hundred years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Four hundred years between God speaking through the prophet Malachi and the coming of John the Baptist. Four hundred years. Four hundred years when God is silent. He doesn’t speak. At least not that we know about. Four hundred years when we don’t know what God is doing. Four hundred years when it appears God is doing nothing. Sometimes in life we realise that to speak any more will have no effect. When someone refuses to listen, to speak is pointless. Sometimes, when others refuse to hear what is being said, silence is the wisest choice. When I’m really stressed, or upset, or angry and I go on a bit of a rant about how things are, (and believe me, I sometimes do), I am not usually willing to listen to anything anyone might say to me at the time. Although it irritates me, the best thing for someone to do is to stay silent. And there comes a time when I am ready to listen. Perhaps God is silent for four hundred years because his people had consistently refused to listen to him when he spoke. Malachi seems to think so. Perhaps God recognised that his words would not be heard. So he chose silence. When I was silent, it didn’t mean I wasn’t doing anything. Actually, I was really busy with not enough head space to write a blog. God’s four hundred years of silence doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything. Actually, he was getting ready for something really important, which, after four hundred years, John the Baptist came to tell us: the saviour of the world is coming and coming very soon. Sometimes silence works to get us ready to listen. Perhaps Gods’ silence prepared the way for him to speak again, only this time through Jesus. The Word became flesh and did life with us! God speaks. And God speaks his great and magnificent love in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus! Perhaps you have felt God’s silence. Perhaps you simply don’t want to listen. Perhaps, as we approach the time when we remember that after the silence, God speaks, (we call it Christmas) we, you, I, might be ready again to hear God speak. To hear him speak his words of love for you. After all, that’s the reason he speaks at all. And maybe the reason he sometimes leaves a silence: so that we are ready to hear his words of love.