India, Oct. 12 -- The line is disarmingly simple: "Come and see." No pamphlet. No speech. Just an invitation. Two curious men trail Jesus down by the Jordan. He turns and asks, "What are you seeking?" They dodge with, "Where are you staying?" He answers, "Come and see." They go, they see, and they stay. John even notes the time-about four in the afternoon-as if to insist that faith has a postcode and a clock.

John's Gospel trades in small words with big rooms inside them: come, see, stay. It suggests that truth is not only argued; it is encountered. Before the disciples preach, they share a room. Before they perform, they keep company. The first discipline is not noise but presence.

There's a quiet wisdom here for a noisy age. Many of u...