Silent Wonder of Presence

Ever notice how quiet things are when snow is falling? If you live in an area that gets snow regularly, you even "sense" snow by the special silence that accompanies the snowfall. Unlike rain, there is no pitter-patter. There is only silence, a wondrous, soul-filling, deep silence as it tumbles down from the sky.  As a kid, I used to love to look up as snow fell, watching the sky full of flakes crash together soundlessly as they whirled and floated through the air, down upon my face, settling and then melting.

God is sorta like snow. He comes in quiet and stillness. I think our major task in getting to really know God is learning how to be quiet and still. Be still and know that I am God says psalm 40:10. The second is dependant upon the first.

Richard Rohr makes this distinction absolutely necessary for the mystic gaze. It happens whenever, by some wondrous "coincidence," our heart space, our mind space, and our body awareness are all simultaneously open and nonresistant...It is experienced as a moment of deep inner connection, and it always pulls you, intensely satisfied, into the naked and undefended now, which can involve both profound joy and profound sadness. (Naked Now p 28)

As Christmas approaches, silence is a good way to appreciate the mystery. Jesus came in the month of December. Who can even say, that as he was brought forth, snow fell quietly from the sky, filling the world with the silent wonder that something new, something fresh was happening to the earth.