Saying For Today: Such has the Silence taught me, and so much more besides, much I let remain hidden in the wisdom of Silence unspoken. Some truths are too beautiful to be clothed with words.
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October 12, 2016 -
Reminiscense after a day serving patients as a hospice chaplain...
After a fourteen-hour day serving patients, trying to communicate with that angry woman on the phone who saw me as her verbal punching bag - I survived eight minutes of her increasingly hostile diatribe -, ministering to a dear woman and family as she is approaching very close to leaving this world, and trying to correct a simple mistake and it taking over an hour, after all the before, I sit exhausted, alone, sensing tearfulness - as though the fatigue and days of trying to be strong have opened a door to a speechless, quiet tenderness that has come to robe me in its supple, breathing silence.
I recall words from the Gospel of Jesus. John the Baptist says of Jesus, "He must increase, I decrease." I have often seen how in my being brought low, Life has breathed into me its gentle and caring Presence. In the valley of my humility, rivers of Living Water have flowed to refresh and bring bliss.
I feel this arising of a calm, palpable sadness, like an old friend who returns to visit from some time past. And rarely do I yearn to have anyone near to share these feelings with, but tonight my heart reaches out to no one there. Yet, I feel, too, the beauty of this sadness and the glory of this humanness.
I recall the dear patients I visited this day and the joy of being with each one. I recall the words of Jesus to his disciples, who wish him to eat, upon his being filled through serving a woman at a well, "I have food to eat you do not know about. My food is to do the will of the One who sent me."
Yes, sadness is here, but more. I am filled with Love, for I have loved this day and been loved. With that, I am content.
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The glory of being human entails welcoming the visitors that come our way - the feelings and senses and mysteries that adorn our path. By Grace, we welcome them all. By Grace, we are filled with Life by Life, for Love sustains us and invites us to embrace the glory and beauty that is the herald of a Home always, already here.
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I am reminded, again, alone I am in Love. This tenderness witnesses that truly Love loves me. Grace is so close I often do not see it, Love so lovely I sometimes cannot bear it. And, tomorrow, if I am still alive and able, I shall be filled with Love again, by loving and being loved. Obeying the will of the One will complete me, as that One is my completion, by Grace in Grace. Such has the Silence taught me, and so much more besides, much I let remain hidden in the wisdom of Silence unspoken. Some truths are too beautiful to be clothed with words.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and notation of title and place of the photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
