Free speech is contentious these days. From college settings that object to “microagressions,” to Facebook rants that become the subject of bullying lawsuits, everyone is talking about what we say and how we say it. On the one hand we want to strongly advocate for justice; on the other we fear the anger that creates and slings words like arrows aimed at our hearts. And the political season promises to increase the words, not always for the benefit of the listener.

In the midst of this I find myself asking: where is God in all this? The average person endures hearing over 50,000 words in a day. Surely God must be in there somewhere! But where?

I have a feeling that God is less in the words than in the tiny, breathless pause that can occur between the time we form a response and the time the words leave our lips. Consider this from philosopher Max Picard:

“In the moment before man speaks, language still hovers over the silence it has just left; it hovers between silence and speech. The word is still uncertain where to turn: whether to return wholly into the silence and vanish therein or whether to make a clear break with silence by becoming a sound. Human freedom decides wither the word shall go.”

(Picard, Max, The World of Silence, trans. Stanley Godman (Chicago:Henry Regnery Company, 2952) p. 45)

I think Max is onto something, for I see opportunities for God’s presence here. First, God is present in the sheer fact that we have freedom to choose: to choose whether to speak and, if we do, how we craft the vessel that coveys our thoughts and feelings. We can choose to allow the Holy Spirit into that brief moment before we speak – allow God to guide our response so that it conveys God’s grace and love.

But to involve God in our speaking means that we must intentionally choose God; God will rarely, if ever, intrude upon our speaking without invitation. That means God is a habit we must choose to develop within ourselves. Godly speaking – it seems as if it is less about sounding holy and noble, and more about pausing and inviting the holy to work through us. That means it isn’t something we put on but something we become, a new and authentic self that resonates in harmony with grace. Sounds like a habit worth developing.

Rev. Vivian Hiestand

Associate Pastor