Sabrina Vourvoulias has posted a beautiful reflection on Silence and Voice, considering her own experiences in the silence that comes with being "off the grid" with the silences that imposed on the voices we do not wish to hear. This line from Sabrina's essay is sticking with me today: "Turns out there is a difference between a silence elected and one exacted." Much as I cherish the silences that I choose, the few silences that are imposed on me do chafe -- how raw must such silence rub those who have no place to be heard?
What voices crying in the wilderness am I ignoring?
That was a really wonderful piece, and approaches some of my difficulty at the Pentecost service yesterday. How do we simultaneously maintain both the engagement with appropriate and desired voices in which God moves and and engagement with the silence in which we hear God most clearly?
ReplyDeleteI sat down last week to think about that question...I don't think I wrote my way to an answer, but I did to the realization that even being stretched out between those extremes is a place of grace.
ReplyDeleteThis is another beautiful piece by Sabrina - on hope.
Now I think I have a better idea of what "imposed silences" refers to.
ReplyDeleteI think that your voice is powerful, articulate, and filled with grace, and is going to be heard despite certain venues being closed to you (us) for reasons that have nothing to do with grace.