Silent Night

I know that I've been quiet here since Christmas. Sometimes it seems that when the Lord is working most strongly in my soul, He moves me to silence. I've always been a naturally conversational person (I love words...particularly adjectives!), but in recent months He has been gently prompting me to value silence more. Words can be beautiful, but many of life's most beautiful moments occur in the quiet. So, too, does He choose to come to us most intimately in the quiet...in the tiny, whispering wind (1 Kings 19).

How often do we really notice the words we sing in that beloved carol Silent Night? That's right: the King of the Universe chose to arrive to the world in silence, in stillness. This thought was echoed in a poem I wrote several Christmases ago:

In a hushed and waiting world
Darkness reigns with night
Sin and blackness are unfurled
All wait for the Light

Souls are blinded, no one sees
All search for the One
When blackness splits…darkness flees…

Christ, our Light, has come!

I can honestly say that this Christmas season has been one of, if not the most beautiful I have ever known. Moments of adoration, of wonder, came at unexpected times, as the eternal mystery was continuously within my mind and heart. In the midst of action, hustle, and even talkative parties, I was often blessed to have an "interior gaze"...a warm ongoing exchange between the Christ Child and my heart, like a romance in which the lover and the beloved can be as though the only ones present. No matter what the outside clamor, their glances are full of meaning for them alone, and there is a secret joy.

The Christ Child is waiting to catch you in His gaze, also. Have you acknowledged His eyes of love today?

“We need to find God,
and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence.
See how nature — trees, flowers, grass —

grows in silence; see the stars,

the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...

We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

(Mother Teresa)

Let us allow Him to touch our souls...in the silence.