TUESDAY, September 7

Psalm 48. We have waited in silence on your loving- kindness, O God, in the midst of your temple.

The story is told of one of the Desert Fathers (fourth century hermits who pursued the life of holiness in the Egyptian desert) who was visited by the bishop of Alexandria. The bishop was searching for something edifying to take back to the city. The old man’s disciple, anxious that the bishop be satisfied, was dismayed when no word whatsoever passed from his master’s lips. After the bishop had left in disgust, the disciple asked his spiritual father why he had treated his visitor so. “If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my words,” the old monk replied.

One of the hardest things to do is to wait, especially in silence. Yet if we cannot wait, if we are unwilling to remain faithful in silence, the word we hear will more likely be our own, springing from our anxious spirits, and having little to do with the quieter, deeper, and usually more radical word that is of the Lord.

Had the bishop been willing to wait and endure the silence, he would have heard a word not simply of edification, but of life. (1982)

PRAY for the Diocese of Gujarat (North India)

Ps 45 * 47, 48; Job 29:1-20; Acts 14:1-18; John 10:31-42

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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