For the next few months I have personally decided not to speak to God.  Yes I said it I will not be speaking to God.  Do not be concerned though, I haven’t fallen off the deep end and seminary hasn’t killed my faith but I have decided that it is time for a change.  You see I realized something, when we pray most if not all of our time is spent speaking and not listening as we almost never spend any time in silence just listening.  So for the next few months I will be totally silent.  In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament God seemed to show up and do a lot of speaking to the characters one on one and face to face.  So I’m putting God to the test. I’m thinking God must have something to say so I will be quiet and just keep my ears open.

A few years ago while I was riding the train a woman noticed I was reading a christian book.  After a short conversation she recommended a book to me called Living The Infinite Way by Joel S. Goldsmith.  In it the author stated that he became so close to God through meditation that he no longer spoke when meditating or praying.  He said over time he learned how to become one with the Spirit.  One with the spirit? No words in prayer?  Seemed outlandish at the time but something is leading me in the direction of silent contemplation.  Besides, if we are totally honest, prayers often become routine and monotonous anyway so something new wouldn’t hurt.

Here’s a quote from Goldsmith:

“The omnipresence of God is a divine relationship that has existed from the beginning of time, and so our work is not to seek God or to try to find God.  Our work is the quiet contemplation of God’s presence within us, and our prayer is the realization that there is no place where we can ever become separate or apart from God!”