Those who practice a watch of silence each day find their devotion takes them into ever-deepening realizations of God's immediate presence.
Silent watch periods are momentous opportunities that call for alert, expectant, and reverent participation. They are a foundation for prayer and an altar of awareness in the temple of reception.
They constitute the practice of our realization of God's immediate presence. The high moment of silence is that of consciously realizing God's envelopment.
~ from THIS DAY IS FORTIFIED by Flower A. Newhouse
For some birds, songs are learned by listening to their parents and neighbors during
the first year. For other birds, songs are hardwired -- the music is scored in their
brains from the beginning. For mockingbirds, singing is a lifetime of choir practice
and talent shows, picking up new tunes and modifying old ones.