READINGS

I must wait: sternest trial of all to sit/Passive, receptive, and patient, empty/…until/That other…/will step/From the shadows. From The Other, Ruth Fainlight

In Luke 1:17-25 an angel disturbs Zechariah, an old priest, in the middle of his working duties. He is told he and his aged wife will have a baby. Rendered speechless he tries to convey to others what has happened.

Stilling our restless energy

Here is a fly on the wall documentary, we are seeing a life interrupted. It also feels a lot like a comedy sketch. We're left to imagine for ourselves what body movements and facial gestures Zechariah conjures up. Maybe he swung his arms in an arc or puffed out his cheeks to portray the angel's size and touched his lips with a finger and forced his eyes wide to show in amazement.

To try and keep a life on track is a full time job. Interruptions thwart our plans (we think). They question the notion that we are the master of our own fate or direction. They may even throw us into turmoil. The emotions that erupt can be quite seismic, surprisingly and tellingly so.

I wonder if we were to contemplate this ‘interrupted life’ more deeply, step into Zechariah’s shoes, co-opt his story when we are in a disrupted space. We might choose to adopt or absorb the silence which stills his energy, his questions, his ‘what about?’s. Receptivity and patience may grow and might thereafter enable, what? Perhaps, that other, stepping out, from shadow.