Lent Blog: Day 8

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Sorry nothing happened yesterday. Well, quite a bit happened yesterday, actually. We completed the Fairtrade College application, and held a meeting for local ministers and chaplains. In the evening I also got the Lancaster version of Cafe Create publicity organised (more on that elsewhere). Sadly, I didn't get to the blog until now, so apologies for the silence.

Periods of silence can be strange. I have good friends I don't actively communicate with for months on end, and it's absolutely fine when we do get in touch. With other people, a week can induce huge amounts of guilt. Yet the degree of guilt and the closeness of the relationship don't necessarily tally. The factors in that can vary, from the needs of someone in a pastoral relationship to the degree of security in the friendship, or whether there are things that need to be worked through.

In a relationship with God, silence can work both ways, too. Lack of prayer can mean alienation, but silent prayer can be very profound communication. Sometimes God seems silent, and we have to learn while we are waiting; sometimes we don't know what to say, and we have to let our silence speak for itself.