In recent weeks, I have been engaged in a Spiritual Formation initiative at Peachtree. One of the foundational building blocks is to explore the role of “silence and solitude” in developing a more intimate relationship with God. While doing that, I want to share a short story.
I love to hike. Not long ago, I was hiking solo with my dog in the back woods of a large park near our home. As I looked ahead on the trail, I saw two millennial girls approaching in single file. The second one was talking into two cell phones. As she came closer, I laughed and said, “Wow! TWO cell phones?” She answered back as they passed by, “Yes. I am learning French.”
The thought of learning a foreign language echoed in my mind and heart. I hadn’t gone far before the Holy Spirit used that thought to tell me, “That hiker is out here in the woods learning a foreign language. But so are you.” Hearing those words stopped me in my tracks and caused me to quiet my feet and also my soul. I tuned my soulful listening to what I viewed as the cherubim- and seraphim-like choir of birds that can be heard, though unseen, there in the deep woods. The songs of those birds became a kind of soundtrack for further whispers of the Holy Spirit, telling me that being comfortable with “the sound of silence” does not come naturally to us here in the noisy chatter and distractions of modern life. It is, in fact, like a foreign language to us. The Holy Spirit further reminded me that “silence is the language of the soul.” Out of that silence, God speaks into our deep heart, telling us (yes, even calling out to us), “Be still and know that I am God.”
Approaching God from a platform of silence and solitude has made the scriptures new and more personal to me. Receiving them as the Holy Spirit speaks deeply and directly into my heart and soul allows me to turn over the noise, distractions, and worries of the world safely and assuredly into His powerful and attentive care.