I have been thinking about this month’s theme – practicing silence and simplicity – in light of Advent. The silence that is necessary for a listening heart is what allowed Mary not only to hear but to embrace and hold dear the truth of the blessed tension revealed in her encounter with the angel Gabriel: virgin and pregnant, commoner and God-bearer (Theotokos).

Deep spiritual truths are frequently incompatible with our intellectual capacity to reconcile realities that otherwise seem incongruous. Thus the mystical expression of most if not all world religions is rooted in mystery and paradox which contrary to the opinions of some slaves of rationalism are not soft-sciences but rather other (and often deeper) ways of knowing.

And so during this season we dare to move beyond the reach of human reason, to dream of the radical nature of the peaceable kingdom for which we all yearn and which is symbolized in the shocking and evocative biblical image of the wolf lying down with the lamb, the lion with the fatling, and the infant child playing near the asp.

If it was prayerful silence that first gave rise to Mary’s words, “Let it be according to your word,” in response to the angel Gabriel’s announcement. Then it was the radical simplicity of her daring faith (not demureness) that allowed her to create a space where the Christ-child could gestate and grow. Simplicity, as Thoreau knew so well (“Simplify, simplify, simplify!”) is never just about down-sizing but instead always about making choices that will enable us to live more deeply since “life is so dear.” It involves the art and practice of making room for something that or someone who is more imperative or essential. A spirituality of simplicity requires that we make conscious choices regarding what we will give space to in our lives. This necessarily means “something” will be displaced or removed or relocated to the periphery so that there is room to receive what it is we are being invited to hold, carry, and then offer the world.♦

REFLECTION:

Like Mary, what or who am I being asked or called to make space for in my life?