Silence

I can't remember who exactly it was who said that when we appreciate poetry we assume silence as the starting place and then ask ourselves the question why and with what has the silence been broken?

I trust the same is true of our speech in worship. We could gather and a la Quaker worship, say nothing.  In the silence we would wait on God to move us to speech and break the silence only when there was fresh revelation from the Holy Spirit.

What we do instead is come with intentional speech.  We pray, we sing, we speak the word, we challenge, we praise, we hope and expect, we speak healing.  Being silent is something we could do alone.  But speaking is something that requires a hearer.  God hears our speech.  But it isn't only to God we are speaking.  Why our gathering is so important is that we have opportunity to speak INTO the lives of others who have drawn near to the person of Jesus.

Some (probably most) of the people speak the same language that we do.  But occasionally, and surprisingly, someone shows up to the place where the body meets who speaks a slightly different language.  Sometimes, different nouns describe the entities that populate their universe and so we try to translate and understand what parallels exist between our language and theirs.  Sometimes, we use the same nouns, but different verbs and the joy becomes trying to appreciate the other's experience of  life and the ways they have come to apprehend life's process and flow on terms other than the one we're accustomed to.  As challenging as this is at times, it doesn't negate the absolute value of speaking intentionally together and in our web of language pressing each other forward to a greater and deeper appreciation of God's movement in our world and in ourselves.

It's when we cease the conversation that we make the subtle declaration that our language has triumphed and there is nothing more of value to learn.  And what a small world that would be.