Silence of the Lamb

I wonder at the silence of God. Each day, millions of prayers are hurled his way. But in the midst of it, he remains oddly silent. In the world he created, he doesn't speak much to us anymore. Sure we have the Bible, but I've read it, almost literally, to death. Shocking as that may be, I think the truth for many Christians is that we often long for more than a canned verse given to us on Sunday morning or by a faceless devotional writer.

In a way, I think I have given up on prayer as it is usually formatted. Maybe it is precisely becasuse we talk too much at God, that God remains oddly silent. I rember the first time it occured to me to remain quiet before God as a form of prayer. The esteemed Dr. Elmes, who at the time taught at Northwest College, stood before our Sociology class, and as he did each class period, said let's pray. He proceeded to say nothing for an honest minute and a half. Concluding that awkward silence with "Amen." I recall thinking, how odd and how powerful. The class, sensing the awkardness of the moment looked around at each other with wondering eyes. No one much talked of it afterwards. But I've held that moment with me and now wish to use it for myself.

I've learned that often times the most honest and true prayers proceed from the heart and not the mouth. My most real moments with God are the ones that seem the least important. Those moments of unexpected tears. Those moments when I am moved beyond words by the powerful images of the hurting or the happy. Those are prayers that should never be ignored, and always understood as prayers. Those are the real moments, not the ones fabricated by words. And perhaps that was why Jesus stood silent at his trial and why he stand silent today.