Saturday, January 25, 2014

Silence

Standing alone in the kitchen I wash the fruit, make the salad and stir the soup while I ponder Scripture and consider a personal hero of mine, Mother Teresa, who gave her life but was so full for the giving.


Alone in the quiet of the kitchen, the boys out for a day with dad, I can almost taste the still in this home.

Mother Teresa spoke of silence:
We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence.  See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence ... We need silence to be able to touch souls. 
I have needed this silence as a time of preparation.  In just a few hours my friends, those who can make it here, will join me in the Sole Hope shoe cutting party.  We are going to serve these African children by cutting fabric so they can have shoes to prevent diseases.
 
We are the body, my friends and I, and our feet, our young black feet live continents away in Africa.  These hands of the body, these hearts here in the States, we want to shoe our feet because we feel the suffering of these children as our own.  Because God says truly, that when one member suffers, we all suffer, and when one is honored, we all rejoice.  We belong to one another, these children and this gathering of women.

Mother Teresa had the world right side up.  She was noticed because of the radical light which shone through the simplicity and devotion of her life.  She said, "Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us love God better because of them."  Which group knows poverty?  Is it really these children or is it this gathering of women?  We all experience poverty of one sort or the other.  We will join today across the oceans in filling the empty and impoverished places in one another, this body supporting one another in Christ.  We put shoes on their feet and they fill our hearts with love in return. 

Linking up with Still Saturday, The Weekend Brew and the Sunday Community.  - See more at: http://heartshomeward.blogspot.com/2014/01/come-to-me-all-who-are-weary.html#sthash.80srelm9.dpuf
Linking up with Still Saturday, The Weekend Brew and the Sunday Community.  - See more at: http://heartshomeward.blogspot.com/2014/01/come-to-me-all-who-are-weary.html#sthash.80srelm9.dpuf

Linking up with Still Saturday, The Weekend Brew and the Sunday Community.  - See more at: http://heartshomeward.blogspot.com/2014/01/come-to-me-all-who-are-weary.html#sthash.80srelm9.dpuf

9 comments:

Janis Cox said...

Hi
I am following you from the Weekend Brew. So nice to meet you. What a lovely idea.
Blessings,
Janis

Barbie said...

So much AMEN here. I am going to share this quote on Facebook. Exactly what I needed today!

HeartsHomeward said...

Thanks, Janis. I'm so glad you came over from TWB. It was not my original idea, but when I heard of it, I knew this was the very thing I wanted to do -- that God had for me to do with these special women. I am glad you came by -- and always grateful to read comments from those who read here. God bless you.

HeartsHomeward said...

Barbie,
I had written this, and then went to link of TWB and read your post and just hoped you would have the time to come by and read. I sensed God might have something for you in what He prompted me to write. I know what it is to need the silence. I truly know. I am praying for you this weekend -- not just in the "prayin' for ya' sister" prayers, but the ones of someone who has been there and knows.

Barbie said...

I truly appreciate you Patty, more than you know. Clinging to Him and waiting for the silence.

HeartsHomeward said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
HeartsHomeward said...

Barbie,
Last weekend I was feeling a distance like the one you posted on your
blog. I couldn't shake it. I could see His fingerprints and yet, I
couldn't grasp His hand. I finally sat. I think a part of me was
running and yet the other part was longing. When I sat, I let things
rise up and I realized something I had to grieve. I cried a cry from
the hurting place. Those were the tears I had avoided without even
knowing I was avoiding them. Once they came, I felt so much
restoration. There have been seasons where the need for silence and
retreat were deeper and one sitting was not going to move me past what
was in my heart. The post Bonnie Gray put out there last weekend really
was a blessing in prompting my time with the Lord. If it might help
you, you can find it here -- (the guiding through Scripture at the end
of the post with the questions for reflection was what really hit me
where I needed it). http://www.faithbarista.com/2014/01/

Cherry said...

I love the quote by Mother Teresa - thanks for sharing that! It is so sad that our busy worlds and lifestyles keep so many from experiencing "quiet" ... something for us to purposely pursue!

HeartsHomeward said...

Cherry,
It surely requires effort & intention these days to make space for quiet. I love the quote too. It was great fodder for my soul this weekend. Thank you for popping by & sharing your thoughts at Hearts Homeward.