Community in Silence

Today I sat in mostly silent prayer with two women who awe me with their faith and trust. In silence, not talking with one another, yet we were in community. We were connected to each other through the One who was at our center. After all these years, I still find myself amazed at this mystery.

I used to find silence awkward, needing to fill it. Maybe I needed to fill it in order to justify my presence, or maybe because words could fill the space as a kind of protective suit. And yet, today I felt no need of a protective suit, no need to justify my presence. I could simply sit in community, in silence.

From outside came the noises of children excitedly taking rides on a Santa train; also the loud noises of construction boomed their way across two parking lots. We could hear those sounds inside, and yet even they called us to prayer, reminding us of how connected we are to all of God’s children.

The heartbeat of God our center connects us in a circle of prayer, and broadens that circle to include persons we have never seen and will most likely never meet. How could it be otherwise with the God of all creation who came to be with us as one of us, and whose Spirit lives in us now and always?

Matthew 18.20:

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”