|
Prayers and Words
inadequacy of words when it comes to communion with God. WORD I, who live by words, am wordless when I try my words in prayer. All language turns To silence. Prayer will take my words and then Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns To hold its peace, to listen with the heart To silence that is joy, is adoration. The self is shattered, all words torn apart In this strange patterned time of contemplation That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me, And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended. I leave, returned to language, for I see Through words, even when all words are ended. I, who live by words, am wordless when I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen. -Madeleine L'Engle, from THE WEATHER OF THE HEART, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1978, page 60. As quoted in Don Postema's SPACE FOR GOD: Study and Practice of Spirituality and Prayer (second edition), CRC Publications, 1997. [Sometimes words fall short. My response to God in worship and prayer is not necessarily limited by the power of my vocabulary or the eloquence of my "prayer logic." Sometimes being moved to silence, awe and wonder is an appropriate response to God's mystery and majesty.] Have a great week, Chip Stam Pastor of Worship and Music Chapel Hill Bible Church Chapel Hill, North Carolina |