Silence blanketed our part of the forest. The air of silence penetrated our hearts. No birds. No squirrels. No movement. Yesterday had been full of life. Birds singing, hummingbirds zooming each other, squirrels managing to heist another morsel from the bird feeders and warning siblings with noisy chatter. Silence reigned as though some monarch had ordered all of creation to stop their activity and rest in silent reverence. What was behind this wall of silence?
The day of silence, become a personal invitation for reflection. What happens in my soul when I encounter the silence? Is it simply the absence of noise or is there something behind the wall that is actually inviting me to a deeper experience? I am convinced that silence is not a vacuum but rather is an invitation to step beyond the daily pleasures and pleasantries of life to engage the deeper interior of the soul. When I sing “Silent Night” my mind combines the quiet hillside in Israel with the mountain snow silently falling in Idaho and in my midsummer imagination, I realize it is my invitation to worship the Holy One at work behind the noises of the daily. This morning the cacophony of the forest reverberated loudly again but I am grateful that I responded to the invitation of silence.