Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Dearest God,

Sixteenth century mystic John of the Cross penned, "Silence is God's first language."  Today as I reflect upon faith and a life with you, that sentence, that theology, that belief statement make more sense than anything else I know about faith.

It was the Carmelite sisters that introduced silence to me.  I always thought silence was simply the absence of sound but I was, oh so wrong.  Silence is a pregnant, profound space where eternity resides, where love is most deeply known, where grace challenges, where living water spills and living presence is more real that anywhere else.  Silence is quiet, yes, but so very much more where you speak and we are most able to clearly hear.  Silence changed my life.

I used to fill my home with sound, the television, the DVD or CD player, the radio, anything that would keep my space from being something I could not handle or control.  But then you sent me to the Carmelites and everything became different.  Suddenly, my inner spirit was no longer afraid but open, contemplative.  I found a place where I could reside anytime I wanted.  I could sprawl out, breathe in, let go, taste, touch and be in a realm so beautiful and sweet where mercy was like air and love like a cushion pressed up close.  I wandered and yet was content to be still, drinking in the wonder of space so magnificent, so huge and so wondrous.  I found this to be so pleasant, so assuring, so lovely, so free and so simple as to turn me inside out.  I learned contemplation, surrender and contentment.  I discovered new eyes and ears.  I felt home.

Blessed are you,

almighty, yet, loving,

tender and caring.

Thank you

for the Carmelites,

for their home

and faith

and love.

Thank you

for drawing me in.

Love always, Andrea