The Secret Joy of Repentance

The Strength of Silence It is written in the lives of the desert fathers, that a young monk went to the wilderness of Scete to see Abba Macarius and ask him for a word of counsel. And the old solitary said to him: “Go back, remain in your cell, and your cell shall teach you everything.”1 Silence is a great teacher, and the first thing we learn from her is our need for peace and quietness. Man is body and soul, and just as the body requires cessation of physical activity to reinvigorate itself, so does the soul need peace and silence for its own well-being and tranquillity. Without rest, the body collapses, and if not allowed to repose in sleep, the mind becomes disordered and incapable of good judgment. Moreover, not only does the sleep-deprived mind lose its capacity to think well and make good decisions, but in enforced wakefulness, it can impose upon consciousness: a dream world. Without sleep, we shall hallucinate, and things will become so disorganized that we shall have an overwhelming desire to close our eyes and slumber off to escape the confusion. We had better get some sleep, then, or suffer a mental break-down. In the beginning of His ministry, when the fame of His miracles had already spread His name abroad, “great multitudes came to hear, and be healed by Him” but Jesus “secretly withdrew Himself to the wilderness and prayed.”2 He left the crowds that sought Him. He did the same thing again, this time by the shores of Lake Galilee: “when Jesus saw great multitudes around Him, The Strength of Silence 7 He commanded” His disciples to take Him by boat “to the other side”3 of the lake away from the crowd. Why? He did so to teach us a very important lesson: the need to prepare ourselves, to pray, to gather our thoughts and renew our strength before an important task. Not only before a work, but after its completion. This we learn from the episode: “when the apostles came together to Jesus and told Him all the things they had done and the things they had taught. And He said to them: ‘Come you yourselves apart to a desert place, and rest awhile.’ And so “they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.” St. Mark tells us that they did so “because many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”4 True, they needed to take time to feed their bodies at leisure, and to nourish their souls as well, because: Man does not live by bread alone but by (the other “bread” also, of) every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.5 We derive our physical well-being from food and rest. If the Word of God is the food of the soul, silence is the rest that also strengthens it. Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the people renew their strength.6 In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.7 The prophetic cry to “hear the Word of the Lord!”8 is also a call for us to be silent. The Word of God speaks only if we are silent. The better part that Mary chose and Martha9 forgot is the attentive silence that sits by the Lord and draws Him to speak, because it is a silence that encloses the Word, and embraces it. What can the living Word desire more than to be longingly heard? Attentive silence draws forth the words of instruction from a teacher. The Strength of Silence 8 O Job, hear me; be silent and I will speak.10 Be silent and I will teach you wisdom.11 It is in silence that the Word of God shall resound in the depths of our being, and awaken us to a new life strengthened by the knowledge of the Lord. The knowledge we gain by partaking the bread of His Word in silence; the Word that is the food and strength of our souls. Just as we receive strength and energy from eating ordinary “bread that strengthens the heart of man,”12 so it is that we can receive “the power of understanding”13 after we have understood the bread of His Word, which has now become for us: “the bread of understanding.”14 There is strength in understanding, that is why in Holy Scripture these are often paired: God... is mighty in strength and understanding.15 I am Understanding, I have strength. 16 Thus, when it is said that “the Lord shall... feed His flock with strength,”17 it is also meant that He shall strengthen them with knowledge and understanding: I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.18 To understand the Word of the Lord is to understand the truth, wisdom and knowledge within it, from which we receive strength for the soul: Great is truth and stronger than all things... it endures and is always strong.19 We cannot do anything against the truth.20 The Strength of Silence 9 Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times and the strength of salvation.21 Wisdom is better than strength... Wisdom is better than weapons of war.22 Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten mighty men....23 A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength.24 St. Peter, who was asked by the Lord to feed His lambs and His sheep,25 was also told by Him to “strengthen your brothers”26 :to fortify them in the knowledge of the Lord. The greatest lesson that silence shall teach us is that we progress from understanding His Word to knowledge of the Lord Himself: Make me to know Your ways that I may know You.27 Be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding... increasing in the knowledge of God.28 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.29 The ancients knew that we shall find Him in His Word: His Image is the most holy Word.30 From my youth You have appeared to me in the understanding of Your judgments.31 It is when we shall have found Him in His Word that we shall find the Source of all our strengthening: The Strength of Silence 10 The Lord is the strength of my life.32 O God, the Lord, the strength of my salvation.33 He shall strengthen your heart.34 And so the first thing is to be silent - to listen to the gentle Voice35 within. Then, at last, shall we be satisfied36 with the vision of Him - the end of all knowing. Be silent, and know that I am God.37 The Strength of Silence