Embracing Silence

by George A. Maloney

TO ENTER INTO one's inner being, one must embrace silence. This is more than a mere refraining from speaking. It is an inward movement into what Scripture calls "the heart." It is going beyond the controlled knowledge we entertain of ourselves and the world around us.

We are masters at avoiding a confrontation with the real person that we are. We play games, put on masks, become distracted by words and values that people around us live by. We can even busy ourselves "saying" our prayers or talking busily to God in a dialogue whose script we have written.

Yet we refuse, in real silence and poverty of spirit, to look at our inner feelings, seeing both the light and the darkness that are struggling for possession of us. We fear to look inwardly and honestly, with purity of heart, to ask for healing from the Transcendant God -- even when we see, through genuine self-knowledge, what needs to be sacrificed, what needs to be transformed.

Of all God's creations, we have been made "according to God's image and likeness." Deep down, at the core of our innermost being, is found the focal point where we can meet God in true healing love. It is in this "place" -- the heart -- that Jesus tells us we are to go and adore our Heavenly Father.


Taken from Jesus, Set Me Free by George A. Maloney, S.J. (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1977).