Silence is the training ground for the art of listening. Engaging the silence may be one of the most important and productive things you can do for spiritual deepening.
I know for us compulsive, productive, extroverted types, this is a tall order. The bottom line is -- it's worth it. But we have to believe that it really matters. In our culture, silence and stillness have been equated with wasting time, doing nothing, being lazy. NOT TRUE. Think of it this way -- the silence of meditation is not the silence of a graveyard; it is the silence of a garden growing.
~ from OPENING YOURSELF TO THE GUIDANCE OF GOD by Linda Douty
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
BLESSINGS OF THE SILENCE, dear friends! Silence is the deepest, clearest prayer we can offer our noisy, wounded planet today. Stilling the mind and basking in the silence of the heart is a healing balm for ourselves and radiates an active energy of peace out to the world. Our silence opens the door for creative potential to flourish and bloom and links us to the universe: a Oneness with which we come to appreciate. Be still and listen . . . Be open and know: Love and peace and understanding await us in the Silence along with blessings of the Mystery. Silent be and see!
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
HEARTFELT BLESSINGS, dear friends! As we spend time sitting and listening for the Voice of Silence, may we trust that our souls can plunge deeply into the inner well where truth dwells. There we may discover answers to our heart-concerns, our prayers, and insights to guide our way. May the harmony and balance of the elements, seasons, and music of the spheres ever be mirrored in our souls.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
MAY BLESSINGS ABOUND, dear friends, in work, leisure, learning, sharing . . . as we move into the Autumn season. When we offer ourselves in service to humanity as co-creators with Love, all that we need in all aspects of life will emerge to assist in the inner and the outer work. May we ever be guided in all we do by the Voice heard in the Silence — Holy Wisdom.
SUMMER BLESSINGS, dear friends! Freedom is very much in our hearts and minds these days. Still freedom is just a word, a concept; an ideal until we will it in our individual lives. We cannot have outer freedom, however, if inwardly we are imprisoned by our fear and all its negative companions. Yet blessed are we who choose to face our fears, one by one. Each fear faced increases our love-quotient. Silence is the golden key that helps us open our heart-gate wider and deeper toward freedom: thus, we bless the world.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
WARMEST GREETINGS, beloved friends! Out of the silence come songs of summer as day and night Nature's melded voices offer music when we pause to listen. Our own organ of the heart plays all the rhythms of our lives: from pain, loneliness, grief, sadness . . . to joy, praise, celebration, silence. At every moment we can listen inwardly for the music of our heart, body, and soul. And we can dance, wail, sing, pray, chant to its changing tunes. Just as birds naturally sing their various songs, so we, too, have heart-songs to share with one another and Life! May your own special heart-songs rise up out of the silence.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
WISDOM is birthed in silence, rising up from the Mystery of the Unseen, a potential grace dwelling within us. At the same time, Wisdom greets us in our daily lives through nature, sacred spaces, the sages among us, a child at play, our creative work, our angels … and all that is holy. Wisdom is a seed planted by Love that buds and blooms in those whose hearts are receptive and vulnerable, in those whose minds are quieted in prayer listening for the Voice of Silence. Wonder, humility, beauty, peace are but a few of Wisdom's fruits.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
BLESSINGS of another Spring season, dear friends!
From the fallow earth new life is springing up as Love's ever-giving, ever-renewing gift to humanity new creation birthed from holy ground, a Sacred trust. Wherever we are — whether traveling afar or in our own backyard — all is Sacred space when we recognize our Oneness with Love Consciousness. And in the silence we can rest in the Sacred Chapel of our heart and gently BE who we are at the core. Be still, and know Love.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard? "
BLESSINGS OF THE SILENCE be with you, dear friends! Our deepening heart-prayers are acts of radical and continual abandonment to the Divine Guest abiding within our Inner Sacred Chapel. Here we trust with confidence — whether alone or with others, waking or sleeping, working or resting. Extended periods spent in the silence basking in Love's Presence or yearning in loneliness can open the space for the Prayer of the Heart to well up and radiate the love and light that we are at the core. May we open our hearts in the Silence each day . . . and just BE.
