chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk           Previous articles by Chris

January 2, 2013                              Chris McDonnell, UK  

The space between words

By the time this contribution appears on the Website, the New Year will be with us and all that has been 2012 will be history. But the events and issues of the passing year will still influence the coming weeks and months.  

For myself the year ended with a first time visit to the United States , five hectic days spent in New York City . Packed streets, sky-scraping office blocks and hundreds of yellow cabs, a non-stop city in every sense. Even St Patrick's Cathedral on 5th was a prayerful space, yet full of many hundreds of people. Central Park was a small oasis in a crowded Manhattan , an open ground.  

What a contrast to the start of Mark's Gospel where we are told that before Dawn, the Lord drew apart to pray in peace and solitude. “In the morning, long before Dawn

He got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there”. Mark Ch 1

Silence is the space between words, the greater the space, the deeper the silence and the better chance to listen.  

In the course of a day we hear so much, as we pass through the sound wall of city living; but listening, that's a different issue. That demands active involvement on our part, a conscious participation and a willingness to be exposed to the silence.

That is the essence of prayer, that is the risk of our seeking God, that in our silence he gently takes hold of us and we are consumed, taken ever deeper into the Mystery of the Incarnation, God with us. Silence is precious and necessary for a Christian.  Origen says that “Man is what he does in his silence”

And again, Isaac of Syria wrote “Love comes from prayer and prayer comes from remaining in seclusion”.

So as we welcome another year maybe we should seek those silent spaces more often, when we might listen for the Lord and he in turn might find us, waiting, in silent expectation.  

Sr Wendy Beckett writes in her fine book  “Simple Prayer” that “The essential act of prayer is to stand unprotected before God. What will God do? He will take possession of us.”

 I am sure as I write these words that the yellow cabs are still honking their way across the Streets and Avenues of New York City and that the general noise of the city continues unabated.  Life goes on. It is up to us to find the small pockets of peace.