The silent church

A dear friend sent me a box of old books yesterday - it was explosive.
A volume by Richard Wurmbrand  jumped right  out of the box and whacked me around the head, leaving me me reeling , it is so challenging. 
This Pastor  , who died in 2001, spent years jailed in solitary confinement, many feet underground, with no light, sound or any stimulation- even the guards wore felt shoes. He was  also subjected  to many years of physical torture  and  intensive brain washing techniques .
When this man talks about Church, I have some idea what he means. I am not impressed either by institutional religion, which I measure against Linda's almost total isolation , while living in a national centre , a candle-lit, incense infused holy place that people flock to on retreat.
Richard Wurmbrand had a vision once, while in prison, where God pointed him not to Himself or to Christ broken on the Cross, but much, much lower, to the poor, the outcast, the excluded, the suffering. Worship the Godhead there he was told.
In silence.
Truly this is a place of profound encounter.

Comments

  1. TheresaApril 23, 2012 at 3:50 PM

    Was the book your friend sent you called Tortured for Christ? I have often seen it advertised in Release international.

    When you speak of institutional religion, I take it you mean the Catholic Church.

    I have a few old books that once belonged to an aunt, who was a beautiful and truly good, and dare I say it, a saintly person. On a scrap of paper she has written ' The Catholic Church is not so much a museum of saints as a hospital for sinners'. That's why I love it.Love to you both xx

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    1. TheresaApril 23, 2012 at 6:20 PM

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