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Indignant. Outraged. Defensive. These seem to be the watchwords of our culture these days. Personally, I’m exhausted by the indignations that flood our communication lines. I guess you could say I’m indignant about the indignation. Yet, when we consider setting our down our outrage, we feel incapable of letting it go. We call it a righteous outcry, a holy justice. And so, we lose ourselves in any number of circumstances or causes. We want to prove our points, win our battles, or convince another that our way is the right way…in fact, the only way. I wonder what would happen if we simply stopped, laid down our indignant minds and stood silently before one another and before God with no agenda to change someone or fix something more to our liking. What if we stopped the battle, called a cease-fire, and simply remained silent? What if we let our masks, our roles, our causes fall from our hands and we were left only with our own true, beautiful selves, made in God’s image? In that silence we might begin to recognize that Divine image in one another as well, even those whom we label as enemies. Maybe then we could gaze at one another in wonder until, as C.S. Lewis says, “…we all have faces”…and minds…and hearts…and beings that are nothing short of glory. We need look at only one life to see how this might be possible—the life of Jesus as he stood silent before his accusers and false witnesses who would lead him to his crucifixion. It would have been understandable, even expected, for him to claim his defense, to rise up indignant at the accusations. He could have called down the powers of heaven to rescue him from the tidal wave of suffering and sin that would take his very life. But Jesus was on another mission—a mission to uncover our deeper identity as “Beloved,” a name given to him by his own Father, a name he willingly shares with the world so that we too may lay down our defenses and simply let our life speak for itself. Jesus, of all people, had a “right” to defend his identity as the only begotten Son of God. Yet he did not regard that right as “something to be exploited...but he emptied himself…he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on the cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8). He chose to stand silent as a man embracing his humanity and his beloved identity. And in doing so, he fully identified with all who suffer and bear injustice and indignities at the hands of others so that we would never suffer alone. Is it possible to choose silence rather than defense? Stillness, rather than battle? Listening, rather than shouting? Praying, rather than prodding? These spiritual practices lead us to grace, offer us hospitality, and serve up compassion to others and to ourselves. Yes, we are called to discern the Divine invitations of God to recognize when to speak, when to remain silent, and how to deeply listen to one another. I know that asking the world to fall silent is not a reality because I cannot control anyone’s life or responses other than my own. But when we welcome the voice of silence and set aside our indignation for a time, we can hear that Divine Voice whisper, "You are my beloved; in you I take delight."
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