There are two dimensions to prayer: speech and silence. Of the two,
speech is necessary, but silence takes precedence. Silence is the
authentic medium of prayer, the rich matrix in which true communion
becomes possible. And being a medium, silence has a positive existence.
For the one who truly understands prayer, silence also conveys a message;
it too speaks... Silence prepares the soul for prayer, to hear the
pain of others, the pain of the world.
Breath animates the clay of our being. It is the lusty cry of the newborn, and the essence of wind, spirit, muse, sound...Everything "breathes." Think of the woods on a spring day, the sussuration of leaves, the rippling grasses, the trembling of dappled light.
~ from THE BOOK OF SYMBOLS, Ami Ronnberg & Kathleen Martin, eds
