Silence

"One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that is makes us feel so helpless.  We are so accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others.  If we are silent, who will take control?  God will take control, but we will never let him take control until we trust him.  Silence is intimately related to trust.

"The tongue is our most powerful weapon of manipulation.  A frantic stream of words flows from us because we are in a constant process of adjusting our public image.  We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us that we talk in order to straighten out their understanding.... Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit simply because it puts the stopper on all self-justification.

"One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let God be our justifier.  We don't need to straighten others out.  There is a story of a medieval monk who was being unjustly accused of certain offenses.  One day he looked out his window and saw a dog biting and tearing on a rug that had been hung out to dry.  As he watched, the Lord spoke to him saying, 'That is what is happening to your reputation.  But if you will trust me, I will care for you -- reputation and all.'  Perhaps more than anythign else, silence brings us to believe that God can care for us. -- 'reputation and all.'"

- From Richard Foster's chapter on "Solitude" in Celebration of Discipline