On Silence and Solitude (I)
In the New Testament little is said of silence as such. The examples that do exist, however, are striking and significant.
The people are reduced to awe-filled silence as they witness Christ’s ability to silence his adversaries (Lk 20:26). Jesus, in the presence of His disciples, displays the authority to still the waters and silence the thundering of the waves as a great storm threatens to swamp their boat. He rebukes the wind and the sea: “Peace! Be still!” And, St Mark continues, “the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mk 4:39).
Whether on the open sea or in the human heart, peace requires stillness. In the midst of our own storms and turmoil, Jesus speaks these same words, “Peace, be still!” For those who have ears to hear, who can listen to this commandment and receive it as an invitation, the wind of noise, confusion and tumult ceases, and there comes a great calm.
As in the Old Testament, silence in a New Testament perspective possesses an eschatological quality. It describes the response of those in heaven to the promise of Christ’s final judgment and vindication of the righteous, together with creation’s ultimate and eternal glorification of God: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal,” the Book of Revelation declares, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rev 8:1). That brief moment of silence recalls the awe-filled silence to which Israel is called with the coming of the day of the Lord, a day which promises both judgment and salvation: “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord,” exclaims the prophet Zechariah, “for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling!” (Zech 2:13; cf. Isa 41:1; Zeph 1:7).
This admonition is repeated on Holy Saturday, but there its meaning is completely transformed. Then the Church sings, “Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and in fear and trembling stand; for the King of kings and Lord of lords comes forth, to be slain, to give Himself as food to the faithful.” In that profound silence the eschatological warnings of judgment are transformed into a glad promise of salvation, as the Lord offers Himself as Eucharist “for the life of the world.”
God speaks out of the depths of His own silence, first to create the world, then to renew the world through the incarnation of His Son. Through the voice of the prophets, including the prophet John of the Book of Revelation, God calls us to silence as well. He invites us to go into our “room,” our chosen sacred space, and there to shut the door and pray to our Father, who is in secret, assured that our Father who is in secret will answer our prayer (Mt 6:6).
In that silence we contemplate the mystery of God’s creative and saving work, together with the promise of our eternal salvation. It is in that silence that we can listen to God, hear His voice, discern His will and purpose for our life, and, finally, come to know the truth of a precious insight offered by St Isaac of Nineveh: “Silence is the sacrament of the world to come” (Letter 3).
~Adapted from the Very Rev. John Breck, Life in Christ, Orthodox Church in America (oca.org), February 02, 2005
