Advent: December 6 – Silence: Waiting for God’s Word

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:5–8

We are silent in the early hours of each day because God should have the first word. We are silent before going to sleep because God should also have the last word. We are silent not to disrespect the word but to honor it and receive it in the right way. Silence means waiting for God’s word and being blessed by it.

This silence before God’s word affects our whole day. When we learn to be silent before the word, we also learn to use silence and speech wisely during the day. There is a kind of silence that comes from pride or self-satisfaction, and that is not good. True Christian silence is about listening. It is a humble silence that can be broken whenever it is necessary. This silence is connected to the word of God.

Being quiet has a special power: it helps us think clearly, clean our thoughts, and focus on what really matters. This is true in everyday life. But silence before God’s word helps us hear correctly and speak the right words at the right time. Many unnecessary things will be left unsaid.

Today is Remembrance Sunday. Will you have a memorial service for B. Riemer? It would be nice, but difficult. Then comes Advent, with all its happy memories for us. It was you who really opened up to me the world of music-making that we have carried on during the weeks of Advent. Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent: one waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other—things that are really of no consequence—the door is shut, and can only be opened from the outside.
Letter from Bonhoeffer at Tegel prison to

Letter from Bonhoeffer at Tegel prison to
Eberhard Bethge, November 21, 1943

^{Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. God Is in the Manger : Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Louisville, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2012.}