Review: From Silence to Silence

 

I fondly recalled Cardinal Sarah’s book titled: Silence, which had sat unread on my home bookshelf for many months, because I assumed it must be boring.  What could you write about silence?  How wrong I was!  So, when I saw the title of this book by Fr Bethel on the bookstore shelf, I quickly bought it.  And began to read it as soon as I got home.  It is a wonderful book!

In the book’s Foreward, Joseph Pearce writes: “If we wish to have minds open to the presence of God, we need to take time … in the silence of prayer.  We need more time with trees and less time with trash and trivia.”  He says well a key point:  God is present in silence, and as we grow closer to Him we perceive His presence there, whether in the quiet of our early morning awakening, or the awe of the adoration chapel.  And the more we perceive Him, the more we want to be with Him, and stay into an eternity with Him.

Many people, and most probably the young ones, think silence is boring.  It’s why they treasure their cell phones, hopping from point to point with what they perceive is excitement, when all it is, is a stimulation of the body’s senses

Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46

In Chapter 4 of this book, Fr. Bethel headed a section with the words: “God surpasses our clear knowledge.  He IS, simply and absolutely, infinite.”  Fr. Bethel goes on to note how we begin a relationship, a spiritual childhood with God, and begin to know Him.  He explains our spiritual growth, through the GIFTS of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and how we nourish them by spiritual reading and meditation.  We grow in our knowledge of God.  Fr. Bethel then writes about how we speak to Him, in prayer.  And all this spiritual growth does not excite our physical senses, quite the opposite.  It quiets them.  Our physical senses are for our dealing with the world.  Our spiritual senses, however, and the quiet and beauty of nature, are where we come to know and love God.

From Silence to Silence is a beautiful, thoughtful book.  Don’t read it after the excitement of a hard day, or taking a break from your work or entertainment excitement.  Start reading it at a quiet time, free from all activity.  And you will begin to hear God, and grow From Silence to Silence.  And you will find yourself looking forward to those times, to be with God.

Starting Evangelization

Last week, the men’s group listened to a video of Dr. Sri speaking to the Seek 25 Conference of young people.  And this morning we listened to a priest speaking to that same gathering.  Both were inspiring talks focused on evangelization of the Catholic faith.  Dr.  Sri’s talk ended with him speaking of Jesus’ last words to Peter: “Do you love Me?”  And three times Peter responded yes, but indicating how hard he found it to love as Jesus did, with a total “forgetting myself” love, or “agape” in Greek.  Peter knew that regardless of what he wanted to do, three times he had recently betrayed Jesus; he couldn’t love and totally forget himself.  This morning’s talk seemed to more focus on evangelizing as being like talking to a dear friend (which was the limit of Peter’s love, a “filia” love).  The video spoke of finding someone who has a private worry, like ours --- and we all have a private worry.  This was a way, the priest noted, to begin a friendship, and evangelization.  After we get to know each other, we can speak of how God is with us in our tough times.

In the men’s group discussion, after the video, we spoke about our own difficult times, but nothing private was spoken, until I spoke of caring for my mom who had dementia, and my reluctantly joining a caregiver’s group --- which I didn’t feel I needed.  And then I was a member and leader of that group for 15 years and still meet with some of those dear friends.  Then, one in the men’s group spoke of his caregiving stress --- which he had mentioned to no one.  And then one spoke of evangelization groups he was helping form.  The men this morning saw the benefit of growing with others, as needy friends, and evangelizing the faith.  It was a good men’s meeting.  And then …

I read my morning prayers at church.  In the Office of Readings was a talk by St. Augustine on St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and “letting Christ be formed in you.”  In Augustine’s words: “John says: He who remains in Christ should walk as He did” --- and love as He did, I wrote in the margin.  And then suddenly I recalled the men’s group videos and discussions on evangelization.  I gave a witness to how I had participated in a caregiver’s group, formed friends with a common interest, and then “walked as He did, with a love as He did.”  It made me wonder:  Did Jesus spread faith, religion ---- or love?  His one command was to “love as I have loved;” that is walking with Christ, not just talking about Him.  And THAT is evangelization.      

This morning the men’s group spoke positively about forming some groups, within our Catholic parish, but the support group I had mentioned was an example of the gathering of people with a common need --- period.  We didn’t limit the group to a parish or religion any more than Jesus didn’t limit His followers.  He loved those Gentiles, too.  That is a God Who loves all, with His all, His “agape” love.

Okay, like Peter we may find “agape” love beyond what we can do (up to now), but we can love others as friends, as Peter did (up to that point, before the Holy Spirit came upon him at Pentecost).  And we can begin to love that way by finding people who would want to talk to us, in private, on serious sufferings we share.  People in need, regardless of race, creed, or even age.  That is a way to start evangelization, of beginning to walk as He did.

 

Thank You

 Google apparantly no longer likes me as it used to, and so when I tried to reply to the comment on the below note it said I can't do that.  So, with this new posting I say thank you for taking the time to positively comment.  I'll continue to publish thoughts as God opens my heart.  I pray He uses them as He wishes.

Your Life Matters

 

I was about to leave the men’s rest room when I noticed the young man at the sink, and I told him that I felt compelled to say: “Your life matters.”  He said thank you with a slight smile, and I walked out.

Earlier, as I was driving around doing my Thursday afternoon grocery deliveries, I had recalled some of the nice notes I had received with Christmas cards, people reminding me that they fondly recalled events that had happened in their lives, because God had made us cross paths.  For some, it was a little event (and still is), and for others it was embedded in their hearts.  One wrote “I am grateful I met you 20 years ago when …” and then described the time and place we had met. 

I’ve reflected before about how our lives matter.  We are not in outer space, living alone with no one near us.  Whether we want to or not, we impact people around us.  We’re part of God’s master plan, and because we’ve impacted some people, God can now use them in ways that were not possible, if we had not planted a seed for His grace to water.  I think we’d all like to see the results of any seeds we planted, especially if the results are what we wanted.  But … then in our pride we might think “I made that happen.”  But as I and you know only too well, much of what we want to make happen in this world is not what happens.  We are not in control.  (And, often we think “it’s their fault things didn’t happen the way I wanted.”}  It’s kind of funny to think:  our lives matter, and yet we are not in control.  But we are in control of our actions, just not the outcomes; because yes, they may be impacted by someone else, or God.  Which begs the question:  How can I influence God or someone else to help bring about the outcome I desire?

Now, that’s a question that’s easy to answer: “I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you should also love one another!” (Jn 13,34).  Will that get the outcome we want?  No, because while “our lives matter, we are not in control”.  The one commandment Jesus gave us, the new commandment, was to love as He loved.  Then, God’s plans will be brought about.  And by our loving actions we help bring about HIS plan, not ours.  Like the Christmas notes I received, people long remember how our lives had intersected, with love.  And when we die, memories like those will remain, for love never dies,  We join God; and God IS love.