He who is not silent cannot hear when you speak to him.
- Guigo II -

Perhaps it is because we think of faith as a God-search that we so often miss the central truth of our spiritual journey.  God is not at the end of some twisting road.  He's at the beginning and at every step along the way.  We don't have to go looking for God; we don't have to search for God, no matter how distant he may seem to be.  God is already present.  It is a question of getting out of his way, of removing the layers of self-absorption and self-importance that in the name of spirituality we insist on establishing between him and us.

And this includes, in the name of prayer, talking too much.

Until we learn to be quietly content in the presence of God we won't hear a word that is being spoken to us.

Until we really believe that remaining speechless is our most effective prayer, we will forever be caught behind a sound barrier that even God cannot penetrate.

Silence is faith's paradoxical mother tongue.

Let this night begin and end in silence.

For once let me not try

to catch your attention with my words.

Otherwise I will surely miss

what you want me to hear,

what you will speak softly in my heart.

Help me to be content

To speak the silent language of faith.

-adapted from Raw Faith: Nurturing the Believer in All of Us by John Kirvan, p 148-9

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