Thursday, December 20, 2018

Psalm 61, 62 
Zephaniah 3: 14-20 
Titus 1: 1-16 
Luke 1: 1-25 

For God alone my soul in silence waits;* from God comes my salvation. Psalm 62.1, SSJD Psalter

This single phrase from Psalm 62 has been resonating in my soul for many years. When I was in my early 20's and came as a visitor to the Convent, it was the silence that I found attractive summed up in this phrase. The silence is what awakened my heart and set me upon my life’s journey in the Sisterhood. When the Sisters recite the psalms, there is a brief silent pause at the asterisk which marks the half- verse. In that silence I feel that I can touch infinity where God resides. It may seem to be a small thing, the brief silent pause, but it is enough to begin hearing the voice of God stirring within our heart and feel its magnetic resonance which draws us to God.

It is waiting in silence which attunes the ear of our heart to know that God is longing for us even more that we long for God. To wait upon God, one must wait patiently yet with intent focus on the one for whom we wait. Nothing should distract us from God who is our salvation; not sound, sight, object, food, or drink, or even scent: nothing should come between ourselves and God. But it is not simply what might distract us through the senses; silence teaches us to quiet our thoughts and emotions, however good and holy they might be, to simply wait for God. The second half of the psalm verse recognizes “from God comes my salvation.” What salvation means to me is my very life. To paraphrase the half verse then, “from God comes my life,” is how I feel about this verse. This is what it means to wait on God alone: I wait on God in the silence, for this is life.

– Sr. Elizabeth Ann Eckert, SSJD