There is the silence in which everything exists, and then there is the noise in my head that I have come to take as the natural background to my life. It has occurred to me that perhaps the trick is to begin to see the silence as the background and the noise as moving across it. The silence, the plain existence of things, is what is real; the thoughts are clouds.
~ from THE EARTH HOUSE by Jeanne DuPrau with thanks to Mary Hazlett
Meeting and greeting the Presence within happens in all degrees of intensity... One day the silence may suddenly, automatically deepen -- like a car going into overdrive -- when you effortlessly remain in the deepest relaxation, undistracted, receptive. In this state you may feel the love going out from you and coming back to you and you may feel within you a sudden walling-up of glowing happiness or intense, vibrant joy. You may find yourself smiling as you realize you are meeting and being met, as you know you are experiencing the Presence.
The music finishes.
It is the quiet of night
Broken by the ticking of a clock,
the hiss of rain,
the growling of a distant car.
The silence of this interval
is not for doing,
not for resting
But to wonder in;
A vulnerable silence
given back to us.
Poet M.C. Richards asks, "In the beginning was the word, but what preceded the word?" Her answer is: SILENCE
A people poverty-stricken for quiet, we! ... Probably never in the history of the world has there been as much noise and as little time in the day for quiet... Carlyle wrote, "Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves," while Einstein believed that imagination is more important than knowledge. If like prayer, imagination needs silence in which to grow, are we not depriving our very souls with such world-wide noise pollution?
~ from "Peace and Quiet" by Daniel O'Hagan with thanks to Mary Kay Martin
BLESSINGS and EVERY GOOD WISH this season of silent nights and holy days ... an apt time to be mindful of the angelic realms and to reconize Earth angels in our midst as well.
My the BLESSING OF WISDOM be yours, dear friends! Within and out of the silence, may you grown in wisdom, may wisdom grace you with truth and clarity, and guide you on your way.
Holy Wisdom's "Almighty power" ... is the liberating power of connectedness that is effective in compassionate love. With moral indignation, concern for broken creation, and a sympathy calling for justice, the power of God's compassionate love enters the pain of the world to transform it from within. The victory is not on the model of conquering heroism but of active, non-violent resistance as those who are afflicted are empowered to take up the cause of resistance, healing, and liberation for themselves and others.
Create each day anew by clothing yourself with heaven and earth, bathing yourself with wisdom and love, and placing yourself in the heart of mother nature.
