24th December

Written by Sheila Collins

O Little Town of Bethlehem

‘How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his Heaven.’

‘So, here it is merry Christmas, everybody's having fun’, so sang gritty voiced Noddy Holder in 1973 and every year since contributing to the annual bombardment of our senses: fleeting, noisy ephemera, shiny, tinsely things, life sized Santas, jingling reindeer, TV adverts for mountains of food appear to befuddle our minds and expand our waistlines. We choose to be continually connected to one another thanks to our portable electronic devices providing constant information, entertainment, news, social media, music, and more. It’s ever more possible to fill our lives with cacophonous, dissonant visual and auditory experiences which don’t allow, or maybe we choose not to allow, for silence or space to listen. In contrast the author of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ wrote: ‘How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven:…….’

Bernard McGinn, in ‘The Growth of Mysticism’ quotes a medieval monastic theologian who compares silence in the human soul to the presence of God in the heart: ‘While the rumble of human speaking ceases, the temple of the Holy Spirit is being built in you through silence.’

In 1 Kings the prophet Elijah sought out the presence of God and encountered Him but not in a mighty rushing wind, a terrifying earthquake or crackling fire but in what some call a still small voice and others - the sound of sheer silence.

Go to a quiet place of your choice, not just this Advent and Christmas, but often. Switch off the cacophonous noise and listen, close your eyes to distracting visual stimulae and wait in silence. There God will meet with you and bless you with His wondrous gift of our saviour Jesus; praying that your hearts will be filled with the joy that comes from knowing Him.