“And, understand, you will silent and unable to speak until this comes to be; because, you did not believe my words, which will come to being in due time” (Luke 1.20).
It’s kind of funny that the story of this season begins with silence, particularly when so many words have been devoted to it (including my own). And there are so many ways to read Zechariah’s encounter with the Divine Messenger in the Temple and its consequence, it’s difficult not to pour word upon word into teasing out those narratives and possibilities.
But just this past week as Thanksgiving Day drew close and with the autumn preparing to give way to winter that they got me thinking about the thing I am wanting most in this season—silence, quiet. Not necessarily in the physical sense that Zechariah experienced, but within.
This latter half of the year has been stressful and exhausting with work projects that have taken up so much time and energy that as they are finally starting to wind down I find I have nothing to say. On the page the words seem to sputter and coast to an end, leaving me realizing I either have too much or too little to say. So, I am taking the seasons of Advent and Christmas in the spirit of Zechariah, and choosing to be quiet, to listen instead of speaking. To hear, perhaps, what I’ve missed amidst the whirlwind of these past few months.
So, as we begin this new season and the final weeks of this year, I hope it brings for you moments of peace, of rest, and, most important, moments when you are still enough to know some of the Love that permeates all of Creation, and wants nothing more than to fill you and flow out of you into this world. May you know again the miracle that Love has come, is come, and will come to all of us.