蜜芽传媒

The sound of silence brings inspiration to Fr Philip Blackledge of Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Melrose.

Script: Before I was ordained I spent a few months being a verger in the cathedral where I would become curate. It was a great training in knowing how the cathedral worked, but it was long hours. You had to be there before Morning Prayer and there to lock up after Evensong. A cathedral kind of breathes during the day. It鈥檚 quiet in the mornings, almost housing silence, but it can feel expectant, like a choir waiting for the first downbeat. It can echo to thunderous hymns and the excited chatter of children, it can resonate to choral music. But my favourite sound was the silence. I find the same silence in the church where I am now in rural Scotland. The quality of silence after a feast day like Christmas and Easter is different from other days. It鈥檚 contented, like lying on the grass on a summer鈥檚 day.

In one of my favourite hymns, the hymnwriter writes 鈥渨here Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity, interpreted by love鈥�. The fact that the silence of eternity can be seen through the eyes of love means that this world is not neutral, indifferent to us. The very silence is fertile with goodness, an embrace waiting to happen, a song waiting to be sung. What better description of prayer can there be, than to kneel and share with God the silence of eternity, interpreted by love?

Gracious God, you are with us in the noise and haste, and you are with us in the quiet times and places. Be with us now, in this moment, that we can hear the silence and find in it the love you have woven there, the hope that is waiting to be discovered, the life you call us to lead. May we carry that silence with us, and the joy that it brings. Amen.