Experience Jesus in silence

Noise... despite quarantines and staying home, there is so much noise around us. I have to admit I myself am a contributor to this noise somewhat. I suppose we can’t help it. There’s just so much going around nowadays, especially on social media and as we wait day by day, anxiously at that, for things to progress or things to get better, we get caught in the bandwagon of noise.

Our children have so much on their plates with academic responsibilities on top of their feelings of uncertainty. On the same note, busy parents and working professionals as well as the elderly also face their “busyness” with the same feeling of uncertainty.

Here’s the thing however, while we do not know what the future holds, while we ponder and ask so many questions, I think it would also be a good time for all of us to use this time to pause and think about what Christ must have been feeling and facing before he was crucified.

You see, Jesus knew his fate. While we do not know ours, Jesus knew his and this must have been so terribly frightening as He was human too. So just imagine, from the time Jesus went up to a mountain for 40 days and 40 nights to the time He was crucified, He too spent time quietly. It must have been so difficult for Jesus to quietly wait and then be crucified but, being silent was what He did.

Certainly, we find it difficult to be quiet in a noisy world and one that is faced by a pandemic. But what does silence teach us? Silence teaches us to discover our true selves and puts a shift in our focus from our words to our inner thoughts. At this point in time where faith is so crucial and often tested, silence teaches us to look deeper into our hearts and find the faith that lives within it.

These are very trying times and it is easier for us to react to many things that come across our paths rather than taking a deep breath and practice some silence. It is even harder when we are going through pain and heartache.

But Christ found peace in His silence and He also found strength – all of which we want in such difficult times. Now is our chance to experience the Silence of Christ – the kind we hope to nourish our souls. It’s worth a try. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.