The true source of joy is love -- love of God, love of beauty, love of wisdom, love of another human being, it does not matter which. It is all one love: a joyful awareness of dissolving boundaries of our ordinary narrow self, of being one with the reality beyond, of being made whole.
Silence in mercy means more than stilling our tongues whenever we plan to speak unkindly. We must silence our judgmental thoughts as well. Each time we think of another person critically, we need to consciously isolate that thought and replace it with one that is imbued with gracious tolerance for his or her faults ... In such silence, we allow others to exist as God made them to be rather than how we would wish them to be ... Through the use of silence, we not only drive out our desire to dominate and control, but also learn to listen to one another. When we truly hear what others are saying to us in the respectful silence of our heart, we can begin to serve others with mercy, for we now know what they need from us and can respond accordingly.
~ from THE SPIRITUALITY OF GENTLENESS by Judith C. Lechman