In Silence

In Silence
By Julia Saites, RYFO Communications Coordinator

I have a confession. I’ve been trying to write this blog post for over two weeks now. For some reason ever single thing I’ve put to the page has been incomplete, too random or just not something I wish to share on this level.

I’ve spent time reading other blogs, articles and stories. I’ve spent time listening to music, both old and new hoping to be inspired. I’ve scoured social media for some lightning bolt of inspiration. I’ve even resorted to cracking open my personal journals. Something. I need something.

But two weeks later and a day past my self-imposed deadline, I am empty. I wonder why this happens? Words generally come easy to me. I always have something to say – albeit mostly contrary to what everyone else says – but not lately. Perhaps events and past conversations have led me here – not really knowing what to say or how to say it. Perhaps I’ve left certain things undone too long and the weight of those things is crushing my creativity or my clarity. I think it is probably a mixture of the two along with some other things I am too blind to see right now.

I think this is how life is for most of us at different points in our lives. That the thought of doing things we’re not all that crazy about sits on our shoulders compressing our desires and creates this whirlpool we get caught up in. Or that our inner being, our thoughts, our beliefs, is so much a part of who we are and how we want to live our lives, is in conflict (it seems) with the rest of the world.

We feel a bit stifled and without a voice – without a voice that gets heard anyway. We tell ourselves that our silence would be better than our voice – because we feel no one cares to listen. So we quietly move about our day.

But this is where we’re wrong. Whether it’s words on a page, lyrics in a song, a conversation between two friends or interaction between two strangers, audible or inaudible, we do have a voice. How we express it is up to us utilizing the gifts, talents and passions that God has given us. We were created in God’s image and since God is the most creative being ever, finding ways to communicate with one another creatively is built into who we are.

So we must not let silence win. We must be a voice to the hopeless, to the broken-hearted, the tired and poor. We must creatively use our voices to do as Jesus commanded: Love God and love people.

Sometimes my voice comes in the form of a blog, sometimes, and my most favorite way, my voice comes in the form of cooking a meal and offering a place to stay for touring musicians. My voice can be heard in the dishes I wash, in the bathroom I clean, in the case of water I offer. And I have to remember that it is good enough. That, how I love God in this way is my voice to the world which screams out, “Father, God, I love You! The life that I live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and died for me.”