Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation.

Thomas Keating, Invitation to Love

Have you thought about meeting God in the language of silence?

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light.”

Genesis 1:3

Silence is the beginning. Imagine for a moment the deep silence in the dark void of the earth. Sound arrives with God’s creative activity.  Sound is a gift called into being from God.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Revelation 8:1

Before the action starts in Revelations, there is silence in heaven. It’s active and expectant. The Lamb is in the midst of the gathering. He is with his people from every tribe, every nation, and every language.

Together, they meet in the unity of silence.  

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the son of God.

Luke 1:35

For it was you who formed me in my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13

Jesus enters the world in silence. God with us, Immanuel, silently knitting together inside a girl in the countryside of Galilee. 

We are first formed in silence. And in silence, we can trust God to do love’s work in us.  

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.

Psalm 62:5

Silence creates a hospitable, expectant space where God meets us as we are. We are free to come to God without any words. It is intimate and transformative. Love is born here. This Advent, consider meeting God in the practice of silence.

What is silently coming to life inside of you? 

As we engage the depths of living silence, we are more than just waiting for God—we encounter God.

J. Brent Bill, Holy Silence