A Service of Silence & Beholding

a time of unhurried silence in which to dwell

at the heart of the Eucharist

Sunday 25th January 2015

8a.m. 

St. Mary's Sullington, West Sussex RH20 4AE

On stillness:

To be still and hear the Word of God is to be lucid in heart, transparent, clear and unsullied. Nothing can contaminate stillness when the Holy Spirit grants wisdom to the humble heart ... Those who love wisdom live, move and have their being in stillness, encircling the ineffable ineffably, to the glory of God. Stillness is the holy sanctuary of wisdom. Wisdom is the luminous eye of stillness. 

Priest-Monk Silouan - Wisdom Songs

Peace be with you 

Jesus said, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest' (Mark 6:31)

It's mid-January, Epiphanytide.
A day of grey light, shafts of brilliant sunshine occasionally piercing the cloud,
Yesterday was the first Quiet Garden morning since last April,
people quietly gathered, becoming present to the place and one another ...

I have been aware of time -
of long nights, grey mornings and dark evenings;
of another year passed, the winter stretching ahead,
spring only a whisper ...

Some say 'there is no time' and hurry on;
but it seems to me that we are invited to be here (wherever that is), now (whenever that is),
just as we are
to waste time with God
creator of time, the One who is beyond time ...

I am aware of the story ... of the Magi - the Wise Ones
- journeying, seeking, finding, departing by another way ...
and leaving in their wake the anger of Herod and his murder of children ....
It seems to me that, in a world divided by ideologies and agendas,
we are invited to be in this place, just as we are,
to seek the face of God with all of ourselves,
bringing our adoration and our doubts, our gifts and weaknesses,
our anxieties and our deepest longing ...
not in order to banish the other,
but to be immersed in the glory and love of God, in which difference no longer divides

I am aware of events around the world which tell of pain, violence and unspeakable suffering
And it seems to me that we are invited to be together
in stillness and silence, not as an escape from the world
but in order to be attentive to it from within the greater reality
of the Light and Glory and Fire of Divine Presence.

The words of Rumi resonate;
'All things change in this presence.
Armenians and Turks no longer know
which is which.'

(from Rumi: Bridge to the Soul, translated by Coleman Barks)

Peace be with you.