Silent Garden

Gardens do not talk. However, a beautiful garden speaks about the beauty of nature; a bountiful garden speaks about the fruit of the earth; a good garden speaks about the effort of the gardener. Gardens are silent. however, a garden speaks volumes about life and death.

A email conversation tonight got me thinking about how worried and upset the people of Israel were with Moses when they were facing the Red Sea in front of them and the armies of Pharaoh behind them. They yelled at him and told him that he had led them out of Egypt only to face death. They regretted their decision to follow him out of slavery. Moses just told them to “Be Still” and let God do the work. Moses prayed over the sea and it parted for the Israelites to cross, but not for the armies of the Pharaoh. However, not learning their lesson, at the next crisis the Israelites still complained and did not trust God. That is why it took them over 40 years to go a short distance to the Promised Land.

Being still like a garden is very difficult, as I certainly know having the reputation of a person “who talks too much.” Yet as I age the lesson of silence comes home to me. People who I admire, like Gandhi, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day, were persons of great silence. They all were prolific writers but spent many hours in silence and prayer.

For many years in our campaign to have Marquette University to Follow the Gospel and No Longer Host Military Training I have been trying to engage students, faculty and administrators in dialog, discussion and debate. Now I realize that all the talking in the world is not going to change anyone’s mind. Change will only truly happen with the silence of nonviolent action.

The civil rights movement did not argue its way to civil rights. Wars do not bring peace, as our government thinks. Action, like refusing to sit in the back of the bus, brought civil rights. Peace will only make peace. Verbal words are nice but come and go. Written words last longer but have not much more impact. A picture is worth a thousand words but silence, just like in a Garden, is God’s way of communicating.

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