St. Isaac says, “Silence is the language of the age to come.” Going beyond this thoughtful sentence, we know that in heaven the seraphim constantly sing, “Holy, holy, holy.” We might say that we need to be silent to access the music of heaven, the “Holy, holy, holy” refrain that continues to be background music in our soul. Yes, angels continually sing in our souls, if we have ears to hear. If we are silent enough to truly listen.
Silence is the entrée to heaven, the music of heaven, the heavenly music that lifts our soul to an entirely new plane of awareness. So, we might say that through silence we become music. We embody the music that we are. We each have a unique song, melody, harmony that only we can sing. We each have a “Holy, holy, holy” song in our heart that harmonizes with the angels.
When we are our real selves, our particular “song” blends with the music of all the others and becomes the Divine Symphony we call the Body of Christ.
Silence is a choice. If we don’t proactively choose silent times, still moments, then noise muffles the music. We can choose between inner noise, anxiety, or inner melody.
Perhaps awareness of our breath, out heartbeat is the easy access to our inner silence, our heart-song. Then, through Christ, our very movements become our song. Our thoughts, in Christ, become our music. Our choices, made to do His Desires, become our musical expression. Our very being can slowly become a beautifier of the cosmos, a melody like no other.
Silence provides the entrée to our inner universe, the echo chamber of our heart-song.
-
Albert S. Rossi, Ph.D., teaches courses in pastoral theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. After teaching at Pace University for 24 years, he retired as Associate Professor of Psychology. You can hear more of Dr. Rossi on Ancient Faith Radio.
This article was originally published October 19, 2011.
