L’Arche is an international movement concerned with the care of people with intellectual disabilities.
Many of these people live together in community.
One such community member was a man named Pierre.
Pierre had a mental disability.
One day, one of the workers in the community asked Pierre, ‘Do you pray?’
Pierre answered, ‘Yes’.
And the questioner asked, ‘And what do you do when you pray?’
Pierre answered, ‘I listen’.
‘And what does God say to you?’
‘God says, “Pierre, you are my beloved son”’
Maybe this too is what we ought do – listen.
The author, Max Picard, in his book titled “The World of Silence” writes, “When language ceases, silence begins. But it does not begin because language ceases. The absence of language simply makes the presence of Silence more apparent.”
And in the quiet listening space hear a Voice say, ‘You are my beloved.’