Thought for the Month
"Hearing God in our silence"
February 2012
As I entered the church it was the cool, slightly damp air that struck me first, with its familiar musty smell that all old buildings take on when they are left used. Then the silence resumed as I closed the door on a world rushing by on the busy road outside. Even the clock in the tower had stopped, its mechanism rusted and clogged by decay that had started some while ago, and now if left unchecked, would continue to destroy this house of God. Yet within that silence there remained a peace that drew me in.
I was there to see if this once busy and thriving place could be adapted and re-used for both worship and community activities in the expanding areas of a busy working town, where probably the needs for kitchen, toilet, disabled access and fire escape facilities would all clash with the requirements of conservation. Undoubtedly the arguments of finance and funding would soon follow, yet without change, the decay would continue unchecked. But with these changes would the peace, that was now so reassuring, be lost?
Today, our churches face many challenges as we try to reach out to the needs of the community around us, and many of these point to the need for change, whether to the building or to the services within, and the temptation to bring the busyness of the outside world into our places of worship becomes ever greater. Yet it is only through the peace we encounter as we enter these familiar places of worship, do we appreciate the presence of God within.
Each week, as we gather together, we have much to share, much to talk about, between ourselves and with God, but our priority for stillness within ourselves must surely be with God, as we bring our thanks and our joys, together with our concerns and sadness, into that silence that gives the peace we seek. Outside, silence seems lost to our modern world, perhaps even unwanted by many, as televisions, computers, and radios are switched on to drive away the quite and stillness that for some can be unsettling. Yet as Christian people, if we are to encounter an active God always present in our lives, it is often only in those still or silent moments that we hear the voice we seek, and it is often in our quietness that God will have our fullest attention.
Yet in all of this lies a dilemma, for if our churches are to become a centre again for the community they serve, then changes will undoubtedly need to be considered. The activities that have already been incorporated in some of our historic buildings do bring the bustle of the outside world in through its doors, and we may not be accustomed to the ideas of the post office counter, coffee shop, library, meeting rooms being compatible neighbours with our space for worship, yet with careful planning and suitable sound insulation, successful integration can be achieved without losing that peace and stillness we seek to retain.
Jesus came to bring a new way of life into a world that needed to change, but in doing so he wasn't about to sweep away the foundations on which people's faith in God had been built. He came to change the attitudes of decay that people had drifted towards, to the rebirth of hope in a future, where all could go forward together in the presence of God. As we move further into the New Year, we again face the challenge of preventing the further decay of both building and spiritual awareness in many communities around us. Yet for many churches there is no plan set out for the year in what is to be achieved, other than maintaining the present services, or for a three year period, where plans are made to take their community forward with the help of God. There often seems to be an acceptance of the 'status quo', which if applied to any other business would only lead to one conclusion.
Planning beyond that status quo should be part of our monthly dialogue between ourselves, for it is only through this process that we move forward and show to an outside world how vibrant the word of God can become. Yet often we are uncertain which way to go, to busy to prioritise our agendas or unable to ask those around us to help, and so we assign the God we love to the damp and uncared for building I found myself visiting. It is often by reaching out to the community beyond our own that we begin to move forward, as we plan to meet both their needs as well as our own.
As we move through our period of Interregnum, with the hope of a new Rector joining us in the future, let us consider beyond 'the now' and embrace the possibilities of 'the may be' as we continue to listen to God in our places of silence and respond to where He wants us to be.
Michael Ellard.