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{"id":5451,"date":"2013-08-08T03:24:23","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T08:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=5451"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:29:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:29:29","slug":"rest-and-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/08\/08\/rest-and-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Rest and Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Two links today: first to a piece about silence<\/a> by my friend Shannon Huffman Polson over at Good Letters.<\/p>\n

In 1 Kings, God instructs Elijah to go out and watch as God passes by. Elijah sees great winds, an earthquake, a fire, distractions and shows, the inflammation of our daily lives, but that was not where the Lord could be found. But \u201cafter the fire came a gentle whisper,\u201d or, in the King James Bible \u201ca still, small voice.\u201d It was in stillness, in silence, that Elijah could hear the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n

Silence for me allowed awareness, and awareness attention. \u201cPrayer is \u2026attention in its purest form,\u201d says Simone Weil, who also notes that \u201cattention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.\u201d I found I was, slowly, better able to pray. My flesh had been cut, and for two weeks distractions sheared away.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the other, relatedly, by Dena Dyer at The High Calling<\/a> about learning to let her mind rest:<\/p>\n

Every day, the Enemy of our souls tries to pull us away from resting in Christ. Despair stalks us. As markets rise and fall, natural disasters strike, and nations war, we\u2019re inundated with uncertainty, fear and doubt. But if we give in to the lie that it\u2019s all for naught and there\u2019s no reason to hope, ignoring the miracles of Incarnation and Resurrection, Satan wins. At least for now.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"