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The Fruit of Silence



One of the ways I’m trying to take care of myself in this winter of discontent is by moderating my daily consumption of news. Breaking headlines, in-depth analyses, and other news derivatives used to be the soundtrack of my life as I drove around town making visits or doing errands and completed chores at home. But no more! I’m trying to be more intentional about limiting my intake of current events to certain hours of the day from trusted middle-of-the-road sources. I want to be reasonably well informed, without drowning in the tsunami of provocation and outrage washing over us.


And so it was that I re-discovered WRTI (90.1 FM) and their daily feature The Morning Meditation: Music of Calm, Hope, and Renewal, offered weekdays at 11:00 am. Recently The Morning Meditation presented a choral piece by the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks called “The Fruit of Silence,” inspired by these words from Mother Theresa:

The fruit of silence is prayer.

The fruit of prayer is faith.

The fruit of faith is love.

The fruit of love is service.

The fruit of service is peace.


Mother Theresa so wisely notes that peace does not come by withdrawing from the world and our neighbors. Rather, peace comes from serving our neighbors, service born out of love.  These words were just what I needed to hear. I now keep a written copy on my desk, near my computer, as a gentle reminder to make time for silence and prayer, especially when the world around seems so loud and unmoored.


As winter gives way to spring, it’s hard to anticipate where the news will take us. As constituents in a democracy, Luther might remind us that our baptismal vocation requires us to be well-informed on issues of the day so that we can be good citizens, making faithful choices at the ballot box, at every opportunity. But there is a difference between being well-informed and being over-saturated, between standing up for what is right by loving our neighbors and collapsing under the weight of too much anxiety.


Let’s study the issues. Choose a few that are especially important. Be careful of our sources.  Call our congressional delegation when we have something to say. Take good care of ourselves and each other. And above all, give ourselves a little bit of breathing room, making time for silence. 


May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. 


Pastor Sue

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Lutheran Church Wilmington

As a Reconciling in Christ congregation of the ELCA, we believe that the gospel is God's gift to all people, shared unconditionally and without regard to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, socio-economic or family status, age, physical or mental abilities, outward appearance, or religious affiliation. We seek racial equality and justice. In this way, we live into the truth written in Ephesians (2:14)—that Christ breaks down the dividing walls between us and makes us one.

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St. Stephen's Lutheran Church

1301 N Broom Street, Wilmington, DE 19806

302-652-7623 office@ststeph.org

 

We are a congregation in the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

 

 

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