A Man who has forgotten words

At the end of this week, I’ve been craving silence.

Merlo field, soccer stadium at the University of Portland

“Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words.  Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly whispered, loudly proclaimed, or angrily screamed; words spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words in many sounds, many colors, or many forms; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle.  Words, words, words!  They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence.

Recently I was driving through Los Angeles, and suddenly I had the strange sensation of driving through a huge dictionary.  Wherever I looked there were words trying to take my eyes from the road.  They said, 'Use me, take me, buy me, drink me, smell me, touch me, kiss me, sleep with me.'  In such a world who can maintain respect for words?”

“One of our main problems is that in this chatty society, silence has become a very fearful thing.  For most people, silence creates itchiness and nervousness.  Many experience silence not as full and rich, but as empty and hollow.”

“Words can only create communion and thus new life when they embody the silence from which they emerge.  As soon as we begin to take hold of each other by our words, and use words to defend ourselves or offend others, the word no longer speaks silence.  But when the word calls forth the healing and restoring stillness of its own silence, few words are needed: much can be said without much being spoken.”

                                                             main quad at UP

I had the experience this week of someone checking in on me, during work, in a big picture sort of way.  Just wondering how I was doing, she lingered with scrutinizing eyes after I gave my short reply.  I hadn’t considered that I wasn’t doing fine, which then made me question whether I was doing fine, which mostly sort of drew me out of my eyes-narrowed-focus checklist mindset of the moment.  When I caught her eye I was likely caught up in the busyness of my schedule, sorting out how to arrange my day and patient treatments.  Her question was an experience of kairos: "a passing instant when an opening appears which must be driven through with force if success is to be achieved” (Wikipedia).

“A word with power is a word that comes out of silence.  A word that bears fruit is a word that emerges from the silence and returns to it.  It is a word that reminds us of the silence from which it comes and leads us back to that silence.  Out of his eternal silence God spoke the Word, and through this Word created and recreated the world.  In the beginning God spoke the land, the sea, and the sky.  He spoke the sun, the moon, and the stars.  He spoke plants, birds, fish, animals wild and tame.  Finally, he spoke man and woman.  Then, in the fullness of time, God’s Word, through whom all had been created, became flesh and gave power to all who believe to become the children of God.  In all this, the Word of God does not break the silence of God, but rather unfolds the immeasurable richness of his silence.”

“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.  The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.  When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.  The purpose of the word is to convey ideas.  When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.  Where can I find a man who has forgotten words?  He is the one I would like to talk to.”  –Chuang Tzu

“The final question concerning our ministry of silence is not whether we say much or little, but whether our words call forth the caring silence of God himself.  It is to this silence that we all are called: words are the instrument of the present world, but silence is the mystery of the future world.”

Quotations from The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Inspired by a seminar of individuals representing various faith traditions, who tried to discover what the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the fourth century have to say to men and women who want to be ministers of Jesus Christ in the twentieth century.