God creates the famine so that we will hunger for the word of God. Ironically, however, God can be more present through silence than through words. In a language-saturated setting, silence can have multiple dimensions. Some silence is charged with the divine presence. But silence is not always obviously filled with the ineffable God.
Some silences feel simply silent.
Within them, silence feels like its own experience. In this regard, our lecturer quotes our own Dan Moseley, who cared for his spouse as she died of cancer. The people who helped him the most during those aching days were not the ones who talked, but those who stood with him in silence. Through Jesus, the silent God finds a voice, but even Jesus' words typify the divine quietude. The parables, for instance, are the epitome of limitation in speech.