Short Story: Divine silence
By emptychair
@innertalks (23739)
Australia
June 3, 2023 4:34am CST
Rabbi Artrevo Goldstein, was talking about the need for silence, and not just silence in ourselves, but about the idea of divine silence.
"God is mostly silent from us,"
he said.
Then, he went on to say:
"God is speaking in the background though, and we can, when connected to God, uncover his otherwise mostly silently, concealed voice."
"God's grant of freedom to us in our lives acts as a sort of a switch that switches off the audibleness of God's voice to us."
"When we do hear God's voice, it is often because we have freely chosen to do so, by our opening our hearts, as well as our ears to do so."
"We can share what God says to us, to those, who we think might benefit from God's words to us too."
"We cannot know our real selves, unless we get to know God too. We know that we are we, only when we know that God is God too."
"God is love, and when we love, God's truth comes through us then too. Truth resonates with love in one who is loving, as truth comes forth from every loving person loving in a loving way."
"God speaks in silence, but can still be heard, by those hearing him from the love in their hearts."
"Silence unites us with God."
"Silence is the great uniter. Silence has a great power."
"Silence is the breath of God, but silent is also his love. God need make no noise about his loving."
"The only noise that God makes is when he talks from your heart to you in a kind of knowing whisper."
'"Nothing is so like God as silence."'
"Meister Eckhart, (1260 to 1327) a German mystic said this."
And with that quote, the Rabbi, ended his talk for that night, with his students.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
5 people like this
6 responses
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
Yes, that song is a favourite of mine too.
It highlights the importance of us having periods of silence in our lives.
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
@dgobucks226 Yes, I guess that sounds pretty true too, and yet real wisdom, if it is to come, usually requires more than just silence, but, yes, silence does nourish the wisdom that is already there.
Wisdom, to my mind, builds in one who is mining the gold in each life experience they go through, seeing the love behind each experience too, and seeing how it connects back in a bigger way to God too.
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
4 Jun 23
Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.
Francis Bacon
3 people like this
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
3 Jun 23
God is silent but He hears our prayer of faith.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
Yes, God is always listening, and at times he does get a message through to us too.
We might have a special dream where an answer is received, or we might open up our Bible, and read a verse that directly applies to us right now. God's messages can come to us in many ways, through his apparent silence.
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
4 Jun 23
@innertalks God acts mysteriously in which man's beyond comprehension.
2 people like this
@Jenaisle (16568)
• Philippines
3 Jun 23
This is most probably the reason why sages go to the mountains or stay in isolation to meditate so that they could "listen" to the silence of God.
Sometimes, we're too busy with our lives and the noise we have within ourselves is so loud that we could not hear the voice of God. It's true that we should open our hearts to God's silence to be able to listen to His voice of love within our hearts.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
3 Jun 23
God apparently does sometimes speak to people, though, and when he spoke to the Jews in Mose's time, he spoke to them with such a great voice, that it made them afraid.
Yes, we can both feel, and hear his voice of love, and receive its message in the deep feelingness of it, as well as in words, too, at times. Such feeling also speaks to us its own words.
@Jenaisle (16568)
• Philippines
3 Jun 23
@innertalks I'm wondering, Are the Jews still considered as God's chosen people and not the Christians?
2 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
@Jenaisle The Jews still consider themselves to be special, and God's chosen race, but, perhaps nobody else does so now. The Jews think that they have a special role to play, and a special mission to fulfil.
Jesus opened it up to everyone though, and now anyone can be part of God's chosen ones too.
Jesus Christ said that he only come for those that God has given to him, or are drawn to God through him, because God has chosen them.
Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
John's gospel, chapter 6, verse 65.
That's a hard statement to understand.
To me, it means that you must love the Father enough to give him time in your life, and then, he will give you time, and you can come to him too.
All are welcome, but some refuse the welcome mat.
Everyone must step over the welcome mat, to enter by the front door, and not try to enter through the back door, by any clandestine ways, or methods.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (28375)
• Singapore
3 Jun 23
Silence is golden and connects us to our creator.
But we suffer increasingly from noise pollution and irrational chatter.
We think the louder we are the more we make sense.
That makes us lose the plot of the divine life of a higher conscience.
We need to step back and listen to our hearts more to make a dent in a meaningful life.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
Yes, the world makes a lot of outer noise these days, which attracts us to it like a moth to a light.
We need to cocoon ourselves away from the noise sometimes, to hear the true message, speaking to us from our hearts, which can never be found within the idle chatter of the world.
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
@Shiva49 There can never be any wisdom in AI systems, only vomited up past inputs.
We need to see it as a tool, not as a be-all, and an end-all.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (28375)
• Singapore
4 Jun 23
@innertalks However, everyone gets on the bandwagon of the journey to nowhere.
Now we have ChatGPT - An artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI.
We may go bonkers soon, if not already!
1 person likes this
@zainkhan121 (858)
• Pakistan
3 Jun 23
Wow, the Rabbi's insights on silence and divine connection are truly thought-provoking. It's fascinating how he beautifully articulated the significance of silence and its relationship with God. Silence truly has a power of its own.
3 people like this
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
3 Jun 23
Yes, so often words just make an empty noise, whereas perhaps only real silence can carry the real power of life's real meaning to us too.
The deepest truths are revealed in the deepest silence.
@innertalks (23739)
• Australia
4 Jun 23
Yes, God is always there in the background, aware of all that is going on.
It is only God that keeps the world going on, and working. His love is the glue which keeps it all stuck and connected together, in a working way.
