While silence certainly has its place in a person’s life, according to the Orthodox church, as human beings, we are created for communication and interaction. While it is true that we are to emulate Christ, in every aspect of our lives, communication is one key area that is often overlooked, in this regard. Jesus told many stories to communicate the truths of a right relationship with God. So on one hand, we can say, with certainty, we must learn to communicate, in the most effective ways possible, so as to remove all possible means of misunderstanding and mis-speaking. Another way of saying this is that we do not communicate by silence, we communicate with words. God spoke to a sinful world by means of word. We, now, as his body, should do the same. It is when a heart has been changed, has learned to drive away the distractions of the world and listen for silence that one is ready to begin to hear God in the silence.
At the same time, we can say that we are to seek after silence as we strive after theosis. We pray out loud in order to learn to pray inward in order to learn to pray in silence. In other words, we learn to be quiet so as to hear the voice of God, speaking in silence and guiding us by his Holy Spirit.
So what is speaking in silence? It is speaking out loud, in love, to those around us, not expecting them to simply know what we mean. But it is speaking, with a passion for, a love for and a goal of silence, so that we are led by the Spirit of God.
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