Living with noise, silence and a bit of presence
January 15 2011
Dear Marists, Recently I was reading in the Australian Catholic Weekly about a woman complaining and asking a question regarding a person rudely speaking during mass. The response given to her question largely argued that 'silence' as being holier than 'noise'. Something inside of me did not sit right. Yes, sometimes silence is better, while at other times noise is needed. What was missing was the idea of 'presence'. The lady making the noise in church was not present to the mass and thus present to the needs of others. However, the woman complaining was not as present to the degree that even a person talking could not distract her. As a father, it is very hard to attain a presence. With competing forces like work demands, family demands, and worldly demands. When mother Theresa first came to America, she made a statement saying 'she pittied the Americans' because they has an infinite number of choices. They could not be as present as they were torn between too many options.
With Mary and her son, Andrew Dumas
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Presence is essential to being Christian. Presence allows us to more fully come closer to each other and Christ. Presence only comes when we stop choosing and let the moment touch us. This is what Christ means when he praises children. Children can see the joy of the moment. In play. In every moment. We as adults can enter this moment when we let God be God and allow ourselves to be lost in the moment. This process is an encounter with life which veils God's hidden presence. In a sense - 'When we lose ourselves, we find ourselves'. This parrallels the process of the Beatitudes. Presence is not just about being in a location, but letting the location form us, embrace us and shape us as God's children.
