I read a portion today from a work of Henri Nouwen called Spiritual Direction that struck my fancy since I have written on this:
Being formed in God’s likeness involves the struggle to move from absurd living to obedient listening. The word absurd contains the word surdus, which means “deaf”. Absurd living is a way of life in which we remain deaf to the voice that speaks to us in our silence. The many activities in which we are involved, the many concerns that keep us preoccupied, and the many sounds that surround us make it very hard for us to hear the “sheer silence” through which God’s presence is made known (see 1 Kings 19:12). It seems that the noise, busy world conspires against our hearing that voice and tries to make us absolutely deaf.
Many are the disciples who have no vision of themselves or even a vision of their life in Christ. No vision, no purpose, nothing but a sense of just going through the motions of life and of religion to no affect, no increased awareness of God’s Presence and certainly no revelation of relationship – this is absurd living. “Oh if God would only speak to me” is the chiefest of complaints to this not knowing. So I’ll ask, “what is your manner of living?” and also “what is you devotional time like?”
The typical manner of living described to me comes with a barage of excuses and reasons for no devotional time. Life is hectic, schedules are insane and silence is a scary proposition for many. One person told me of his deep hatred of silence!
Moses had to go up to the mountain, Elijah to the cave, Jesus to the garden – silence is vital to hearing the voice of God, being alone with him is prayer and the Word is vital to discerning the voice of God. To wander through life only presupposing the Voice of God is truly absurd living.
I will have more to say on this later.
