Let God Speak
A lesson from lectio on the importance of silencing the tongue.
She crinkled her brow. Disapproval.
We were sharing reflections while praying lectio divina as a small group of adults at the parish. We were praying with Matthew 11:28–30.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
“I have a question I’m wrestling with,” she said. “How can his yoke be easy and his burden light if his yoke and burden is the Cross? The Cross does not seem easy or light.”
Though she was not addressing her question to me, like an idiot, I, the fearless leader, felt the need to insert my voice in response. I blabbered for a bit. A few sentences in, I could tell it wasn’t connecting with her. Her face told me as much. I hurried to finish what I was saying and we entered into a brief time of contemplation, the fourth step of lectio.
After a closing prayer, I was about to move the group into the next part of our meeting when she raised her hand, stopping me, and said, “The Lord gave me my answer.”
“Well, what is it?” I asked.
“I can be at peace with the Cross because he is at peace with it. If he is at peace, I can be at peace. That’s what makes it easy and light.”
A pregnant silence filled the room. God had spoken in a way only God can speak, and he had spoken in contemplative silence.
This experience, one that happened just a few weeks ago, is a good reminder that:
Lectio is legit. Prayer is legit. And God really does speak to us. There’s no way this woman manufactured that answer on her own, nor was it premeditated. That one only had once source.
So often, we speak and extend our voices into space that’s not ours. We talk to much. I talk too much. I talked too much that day because I felt obligated to provide an answer. The ladder of humility reminds us of the importance of speaking less and using as few words as possible when we do need to speak.
God needs to have the floor. We need to let God speak. We need to give him the first word, because only giving him the first word corresponds to reality (see Jn 1:1–18).