My soul waits in service for God only, from God is my salvation. (Psalm 62:1) Historically, Advent is a season of quiet. There is a good reason why Advent music talks about so much about Little Towns, lying sleepy in the night, and tells the boy child to Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. We end each Christmas Eve service singing words of Silence, desiring a moment and time to “sleep in heavenly peace”. There is an awful lot of silence wished and hoped for in this season.
Perhaps we wish for silence because it is so contrary to our experience of the season in real life. It’s anything but quiet. If your calendar looks like mine, Advent looks like a time of going and doing and noise. December is a month of lists and parties and music – the constant music! – and families and friends and costumes and events and ...
Christmas can be loud.
What happened to the wished for silence?
What would happen if you put “silent time with Jesus” on the top of your Daily to-do list. Just 30 seconds or 2 minutes of silence with God. How would that change your experience of the season.
Even the most Christmas loving person needs quiet time. Even the biggest extrovert could benefit from some time alone, and the rest of us surely need that time away from others to just breath with God.
No agenda. No list. No requirements. Just breathing God in, and breathing our stress back out.
Try it with me. Close your eyes. When you breathe, think the words “My soul in silence” and as you breathe out, use the words “waits for God.” Do this as many times as you can stand.
Silence isn’t something which appears as if by magic on Christmas Eve. It’s an active choice which we make in the midst of the season.
Questions for reflection:
What feels loud in your life right now?
Does the ides of sitting silently with God make you uncomfortable? Why or Why not?
Prayer: God, my soul in silence waits for you. I find hope in you because you have been my rock and my salvation, my stronghold in times of trouble. I will pour out my heart to you in the moments when I feel overwhelmed by the noise of the world. Amen.
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