We have the potential to become like a tree planted by the stream.
Like the tree, we need nurturance — both of water and of sun if
we are to blossom. We need nurturance from all the elements;
without the soil, the sun, and the air, our food will not grow.
We need nurturance from the plants. We all need human nurturance
in the form of friendship and love, and we need God's own divine
nurturance which empowers us to trust in the Author of creation.
True silence is our search for God ... a suspension bridge that a soul in love with God builds across the dark, frightening gullies of its own mind, the strange chasms of temptations, the depthless precipices of its own fears that impede its way to God.
True silence is the speech of lovers. For only love knows its beauty, completeness, and utter joy. True silence is a garden enclosed, where alone the soul can meet its God.
~ from CELTIC NIGHT PRAYER by the Northumbria Community with thanks to Roger S. Smith
