Silent God

I'm reading "The Way of the Heart" by Henri Nouwen.

In the section titled "Silence", Nouwen points to the truth that when we speak too many words it is like leaving the door open to the sauna and letting all the heat out. Instead, he exhorts us to speak fewer, warmer and meaningful words.

He also points to the silence of God as our creative and re-creative power. I'm blown away by the poetry and depth of Nouwen's explanation here:

"Here we can glimpse the great mystery in which we participate through silence and the Word, the mystery of God's own speaking. Out of his eternal silence God spoke the Word, and through this Word created and re-created the world. In the beginning God spoke the land, the sea and the sky. He spoke the sun, the moon and the stars. He spoke plants, birds, fish, animals wild and tame. Finally, he spoke man and woman. Then, in the fullness of time, God's Word, through whom all had been created, became flesh and gave power to all who believe to become the children of God. In all this, the Word of God does not break the silence of God, but rather unfolds the immeasurable richness of his silence."

I'm struck by the concept of God's "eternal silence" being a well from which he speaks creation into being. And I'm struck by my own many words that I speak constantly out of compulsion.

Jesus, help me to be more silent and thus to understand what Nouwen means when he says,

"Thus silence is the mystery of the future world. It keeps us pilgrims and prevents us from becoming entangled in the cares of this age. It guards the fire of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. It allows us to speak a word that participates in the creative and re-creative power of God's own Word."