“For darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”- Psalm 139:12-13 (NIV)
“Vigils is the womb of silence, the darkest hour.”- David Steindl-Rast
Leighton Ford notes in Chapter 2 (“The Birthing Hour: Time Before Time”) of The Attentive Life that Vigils, also known as Matins, is the first prayer time of each day. In The Music of Silence, David Steindl-Rast expounds on the symbolism of the Hour of Vigils:
“The Hour of Vigils is also a symbol of the waking up we have to do in the midst of our lives . . . . Vigils, then, is the hour that calls us to set aside time outside the practical demands of the day and to connect with that dark but grace-filled mystery in which we are immersed.”
When we consider Vigils “the womb of silence”, we are reminded of the darkness of our mother’s womb, where we were formed and birthed. We are called to pay attention to what God was doing for us long before we literally saw the light of day. Leighton Ford concludes:
“We often speak of contemplating God. But how wonderful to think that God was contemplating us before we were born.”
Today’s question: How does the truth that God contemplated you before you were born impact your response to your present adversity? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The spiritual exercise of sleep”
