Silence

"The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me." ~ Blaise Pascal, Pensees

Pensees is a collection of thoughts that Pascal wrote while he was planning his Apology of Christian Religion, which he died before completing. There are many good quotes in Pascal's Pensees, but I like this one in particular because I think it sheds light on why we humans have a love of busyness. I do believe we are frightened by the deep silences. I think that is because when we are faced with such silences we are forced to look at ourselves for who we really are and looking that deep frightens us. We are afraid we will see something we will not like and once it is seen it cannot be unseen. I think this is why we stay so busy for then our minds are never breached by such silences. Sure we may have down times but they are still filled with active imaginations, thoughts of the day's activities, or longings for the future. How many of us really sit in silence and allow that silence to quiet our thoughts until we face nothing but ourselves? I know I do not. I think that is because deep down I know that if I do I will be shocked by what I see.

Fortunately there is an upside to seeing the truth in the silence. We may be far far more sinful than we could ever imagine, but that makes grace far far sweeter than we could ever dream and we can then see that we are loved far far more than we ever thought possible.

By His Grace,
Taylor