When Truth Refuses to Remain Silent
Inspired by Luke 19:28–40 and the witness of Tarana Burke from the Me Too Movement.
[Image Credit: Entry into Jerusalem. Lorenzetti, Pietro, active 1320-1348]
Scripture
“I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” — Luke 19:40
Reflection
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the air is thick with expectation. His disciples can’t help themselves — they erupt in praise, shouting blessings and naming the truth of who he is. The Pharisees try to quiet them, to keep things orderly, to keep things safe. But Jesus refuses to participate in the silencing. He says that if the disciples were quiet, even the stones would cry out.
It’s a moment that reveals something about the nature of truth: Truth has a pulse. Truth has a voice. Truth will rise, even when the world prefers silence.
I’ve been thinking about Tarana Burke’s reflection on her childhood practice of confession — how it became the one place where she could speak the truth about what she was suffering. In her book Unbound, she said there was something liberating about “getting truth out of your body,” even if it was whispered only to God or written in a journal. That small act of truth‑telling became the seed of a movement that has helped millions break silence.
Her words echo Jesus’ insistence that truth cannot be buried forever. Even when we feel voiceless, or the world tells us to hush, and when our own fear tries to clamp down on what aches inside us — God is already listening. God is already receiving the truth we barely dare to name. And God is already working with it.
Holy Week invites us into that same sacred honesty. Not disclosure for disclosure’s sake or some type of forced vulnerability, but the gentle courage to name what is real:
- what hurts
- what needs healing
- what we long for
- what we’re afraid to admit
- what hope is rising in us
As we walk toward the cross and Christ’s resurrection, we remember: God is always on the side of truth that longs to be spoken — the truth that leads to liberation, justice, and new life.
Even if we whisper it. Even if we write it down. Even if we can’t yet say it out loud. God hears. And if we are silent, the stones will shout.
Reflection Questions
- Where in my life am I feeling the pressure to stay silent?
- What truth — about my pain, my hope, my calling, or my healing — is stirring inside me?
- What would it look like to offer that truth to God, even in a whisper?
- How might my honesty become a seed of liberation for myself or others?
Closing Prayer
Holy One,
You are the God who hears even the truths we cannot yet speak aloud. Receive what is rising in us — our longing, our grief, our hope, our fear. Give us the courage of the disciples who could not keep quiet, and the gentle strength of those who whisper their truth to You in the dark. Let Your Spirit meet us in every honest word, and shape our truth into healing, justice, and new life.
Amen
Song Suggestion
“Truth Be Told” by Matthew West is a song about the courage to be honest before God and others, and the freedom that comes with it.