God's Silence

GOD’S SILENCE

Cl. Mario D’Couto SDB

            In one of my previous articles called “Silence – The Other Side of Prayer” [Please refer to the old posts for this article], I had written about the need for silence in prayer as sometimes we are caught up with the notion that prayer is a series of petitions to God. But as we all know, such is not the case. Prayer can also mean just being in the presence of God and enjoying His presence. But how does one really come to that level? In that article, I had mentioned that if we are in tune with God, we don’t need some kind of external manifestation to prove that God is there, for God speaks to us in the daily events and circumstances of life. In this article, I wish to understand a little more about the silence of our dear God, “Why does God remain silent in the midst of suffering, problems and difficulties?” “Why is it or what is it that make people to think that way?” and so on.

            In the first place, God is and should not be understood as a physical entity. He is a transcendental reality that surpasses all human understanding. Yet does that mean that we cannot know him? Absolutely not! God does reveal Himself through His Word and thus although we may not understand Him fully, we can still come to know Him a little more through prayer, reflection and the reading of His Word. In all this, the aspect of faith is of prime importance for without it, we cannot make sense of spirituality. For what eyes are to the body, faith is to the soul. But faith in what? How can one be sure that his or her faith is true and genuine and that he or she is not deceived? In the book of Genesis, we have the call of Abraham. In this, we see the story of a man, who one day, suddenly set out from a world which had nurtured his projects and hopes dreams of a future, a world in which he was born, where he had his roots and his horizon, his relatives and his habits. Which person in his normal senses would have done such a thing? Perhaps he was mad to do such a thing. But was he? Although, it is written in the Bible that he left everything, there were many things that Abraham kept with him. For instance, his wife, servants and cattle were still there. Yet, everything was not smooth sailing for him. Pastures for his flock were no easier to find, the presence of an unfavourable climate, the hostility and opposition of other groups that he had to face were some of the obstacles that he had to face. Yet, he believed and went ahead. But on what basis did he go ahead or how sure was he in making the right decision?

            To guarantee a developing nation a territory it may call home, to defend it from neighbours eager to exploit its every weakness, to maintain the fertility of families and herds, to assure it a glorious future – these are things that God alone can take upon Himself. Thus we see that for a blessing to take place, God must be present, for He alone can bless. When a person says to a priest, “Bless me Father,” he is saying it because he believes that God’s grace flows through the priest who is His instrument. Thus, a blessing is not a human but a divine affair. Abraham could not have left every form of security behind and entrusted himself to the future had he not recognized God. The credibility of his belief in God lies in the fact that he was able to realize that the same God who spoke to him at Ur was the same God at Bethel; He was the same in Egypt as He was in Palestine. In short, his (and our) God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

            Applying this in the context of our lives, we can be sure that God’s silence is not His absence for He is the same from the time we are born till we die; He is there with us always. But, it is only through the eyes of faith that we will be able to see him, just as Abraham did.