A Reflection on Ps 62...

I still remember clearly the time when I first started work as a programmer. At that time I was the only chinese in that section. I knew that I had to prove myself. I thirsted and longed for recognition and praise.
6 months later, I was put in charge of the running of the night shift. Since they usually put experienced people to supervise the night shift, I thought to myself, "Ah, they finally recognise my ability and skills"
That feeling, however, did not last long. After a few months, it became an empty feeling. It was then that I realised that thirsting for temporal and earthly things would eventually leave me empty unsatisfied.
As the psalmist of Ps 62 says "O God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting", our longing and thirsting will not be satisfied until we are reunited with God.
The question is; do we thirst for temporal things or do we thirst for something that is eternal?

Silence

Blaise Pascal once said “Man’s biggest failure is his inability to stay still”. For me, there is much wisdom in these words. There is just too little of “staying still” in this modern day and age.
Modern society tends to look at silence as something un natural, something inhuman. Many a times, I would get questions like “How do stand 8 days of silence?” Question like this comes even from my Catholic friends.
Personally, I think that many people are afraid of silence. They find silence un nerving. If you were to try doing silent reflection for young people, they would very often become agitated or restless after a few minutes. I have tried this on a group of people ranging from the age of 20 to mid thirties and most of them start to fidget after 1 or 2 minutes of silence.
Even when I was in the seminary, I found that my fellow seminarians find it difficult to keep their silence during the annual retreats.
Silence is a form of prayer. We should not be afraid or uncomfortable with it. In his book “The Prayer of the Frog”, Tony de Mello wrote of the 3 stages of prayer. The first is where we talk and God listens. This is the normal form of prayer that all of us are used to. The second stage is where God talks and we listen. This is probably more difficult it involves being silent both verbally and mentally. Not everyone can do this. The last stage is where neither talks but both listen.
The last stage may be difficult to comprehend. Let me give an example of how this can be. Sometimes when we go out for a meal with a close friend or a loved one, very often conversation is not necessary. This is because silence is enough to transmit the love that we have for the other party and vice versa.
So it is with silence. When we go into silence with God, we don’t have to use words and neither does God. All we need to do is to be still and let ourselves be engulfed by the loving presence of God. “Be still and know that I’m God” This psalm can certainly teach us many things about the value of silence.
Even Jesus needed time for prayer and silence. We read in the Gospels that he would go up to the mountains and pray alone.
Modern society loses itself because it just keeps doing and doing and doing. I’m not saying that we should not “do” but every now and then, we have to stop doing and just “be”. If we just keep doing and doing but never “being” then we would ultimately lose ourselves and become nothing more than a machine. Silence is one of the best ways to rejuvenate our bodies and ourselves. It allows our souls to catch up with our bodies.
I will always remember this story about two tourist who hires some guides to take them through some parts of Africa. They were constantly moving and moving, seldom stopping for long. One day they found their guides sitting on the ground, unwilling to move. And they would not respond to any questions or promptings.
Finally, the guides got up and said, “You white men are always in a hurry, moving here and there. We are not used to this and have to stop in order for our souls to catch up with our bodies”
And this is what silence is all about. To allow our souls to catch up with our bodies. Silence is possibly the highest form of prayer. It is difficult tp do but when we are able to do it, we will find that we will be able to rest solely in the loving presence of God and nothing else matters.