Silence

Notes from the wild...on silence.

This is a post I wrote in April 2022 and it remains as prominent today as it did three years ago and so I wanted to re-share it here on the Wild Times.

(Image courtesy of Chromethemer.com)

“While it was still dark” is a verse from John 20:1 and it speaks about the posture of Mary on a particular day after Jesus’ death.

This is Holy Saturday.

The day when everything was silent.

The verse reads…
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.” John 20:1

What was Mary thinking and feeling as she got up, while it was still dark and went to the tomb? All hope seemed lost for her. Her rabbi & closest friend was dead. Was she going there to give space to her grief because she didn’t know how to do anything else in that moment?

There’s something about Mary’s posture that lights a fire in me.

Her loyalty.

Her honour towards her friend.

Her hope…while all was still dark.

Holy Saturday, the day when God is silent speaks into my own life.

I sit still in the darkness in many areas of my life where I’d prefer clarity and answers and resurrection. Long standing prayers remain unanswered. Cherished desires are, so far, unfulfilled, and these are often met with a loud and deafening silence.

But there’s something about Mary that despite what she experienced in the previous days, she still got up early, while it was still dark and she walked to that tomb. I can imagine how messy everything must have felt on that morning.

So much was still in the dark. So much remained unknown.

Her future now uncertain.

I love it because this is not just a story about Mary way back then.

It’s also our story here and now.

It’s mine and it’s yours.

It has to be, otherwise faith is just a strong belief that something happened back then.

For it to be meaningful in anyway, in this world that I live in now, it has to embody part of my present reality here too.

I wanted to embody this in my own life & story this morning. So early in the morning, while it was still dark…I went and jumped in the sea.

And while it is still dark, I too still hope for many things yet to be seen.

While it is still dark, I too still dream.

While it is still dark, I feel the cool embrace of a wild sea.

While it is still dark, I sip coffee with a hot water bottle and chat to a friend about a job promotion she went for and didn’t get.

While it is still dark we carry on, in our present reality that is often far from what we hoped for or expected, and like Mary, while it was still dark…we hold on.

Sunday is coming but let’s try not to bypass all that God wants to do in us in the silence, where are hearts wait on the promises yet to be fulfilled.

I hope this speaks gently to you on your way.