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October 4, 2007
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Beauty in Silence, by Rubel Shelly
Famed mime Marcel Marceau died several weeks ago at age 84. He was the
lithe, graceful, and expressive artist who could make us believe he was
climbing stairs where there were none, pressing his hands against a
pane of glass that was not there, and leaning into a wind that was not
blowing.
The most expressive part of his repertoire emerged as he matured. He
could trigger worlds of thought and sentiment in us by the tilt of an
eyebrow or with a smile. His signature "Youth, Maturity, Old Age and
Death" carried one through the course of an entire human life in four
to five minutes. As people got older, they watched with deeper passion
and understanding. But even the young who witnessed it were drawn into
deep reflection on the meaning of life.
Perhaps the silent beauty of Marceau resonated for people for half a
century because of the addiction to noise that complicates life for
most of us.
I confess it. I am addicted to the noise of a TV I am not watching and
the music or talk on my car radio I am not hearing. Maybe that is why
one of the spiritual disciplines is silence.
As you drive home from work this afternoon, leave the radio off!
As a spiritual discipline, silence is the deliberate shutting away of
people and things that intrude noise into one's consciousness so that
it can be fully attuned to God. It is being still, so we can know that
God is sovereign -- and we are not. It is refusing to be distracted
from the divine presence. It is being quiet, reflective, and open to
the very voice of God.
Silence, which almost always requires solitude, is a humbling thing for
the powerful. It reminds them that the real power in this cosmos is in
the voice of God, not in their instructions for and demands upon their
peers. It is also uplifting to the not-so-powerful, for it reminds them
that there is only one voice that must be heard. Even in our weakness,
God will not abandon us.
As you drive home from work this afternoon, leave the radio off and
reflect on the presence of God with you or some divine attribute for
which you are especially grateful right now. In the quiet few moments
before you fall asleep tonight or before you get out of bed in the
morning, focus on the Lord and turn over a favorite passage of
Scripture.
An artist reminded us that silence sometimes says more than words can.
God waits to be our teacher in the still moments we share with him.
Thus he calls us: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
---------
(c) 2007 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life"
printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for previous issues of
the "FAX of Life."
RELATED LINKS:
* Exercising the Spirit: Silence
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200603/20060326_silence.html
* A Time to Keep Silence
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200303/20030320_silence.html
* The Gift of Stillness
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200604/20060401_stillness.html
* RubelShelly.com
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200710/20071004_beatyinsilence.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
easy-to-sing songs about God's faithfulness.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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