We pray that God would meet us where we are and move us on to where he would have us be
Amen
Words can be life affirming
Comforting, enabling
There are words of rejoicing, praising
celebration
we can pronounce words of wisdom
Acclaim words of honour
Sing words of worship
Announce words of freedom
wonder at words of prophecy
Whisper words of healing
But what happens when words stop
When words are not enough
when words seem shabby
when words that once had meaning
lose that meaning
When words that in the past gave expression
to our innermost feelings
now seem meaningless
trapping us in a world of emotions
that cannot be expressed.
It's not a comfortable place.
We are so used to expressing ourselves
Communicating in a verbal or written language
And yet its a place that the disciples came to.
The disciples who were full of talk-Peter with all his bluster. James and John, with their demands for priority in heaven-Thomas-full of arguments, and insisting on scientific evidence.
The disciples who were never lost for words
Now in that place where words seemed inadequate.
As they gazed up to heaven-
what words could describe what they were seeing and feeling.
Suddenly they were confronted with following a God that was no longer with them in human form.
A God who would not respond in the same way to their human words.
A God who was suddenly hidden from sight
Beyond words.; beyond human language
What could they be left with-but silence
It's all that we are left with at times.
Times of awe inspiring wonder-the intake of breath
at a beautiful view
Times of mystery-the held silence at the end of a
music concert
Times of sadness or bereavement-when there are no words but we are held in each others silence
From within that silence we are still called to
listen and respond to a God who is both hidden and visible.
How do we do this.
How do we find God in the spaces between words?
we will all find our own ways, some will find God in the depths of music
others will find God in nature
Others will find God in the creative arts-in sewing, carpentry, painting
Recently I have been praying using a book of pictures.
They aren't profound
Sometimes they are as simple as a chair and an empty room.
Yet something about them helps me to find a window on God without using words
Perhaps what we see in the disciples is that same movement beyond words,
The realisation that what they were experiencing went beyond human Ianguage-that it needed a new language.
A different way of being with God.
We'll see more of how that happened in a few weeks when
we remember the first Pentecost after Jesus’ Ascension.
But we are faced with the same challenge today.
How do we communicate with a God who is both hidden
and present
How do we find God in a language beyond human words
How do we express what at times seems inexpressible
Perhaps like the disciples, the language of silence is all we have to offer.
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