Silence

Silence

Many of you may know that I spent time in the Benedictine Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. I follow Benedict's Way today. Today, I share some Benedictine insights  especially appropriate for Advent. My guess is that, today, you need to build in some silence for your soul.

Jim+

Remember the great value of silence.  Each day there must be time for silence, even in our prayers and meditation. There must be time within which we neither speak nor listen, but simply are. Consider the silence of a living tree; it neither speaks nor hears. Out of the uncounted aeons, inexorable, ever-changing forces have erected it, to a purpose beyond our understanding. It needs no words, yet its presence is no less actual than ours. Consider the value of silence in community.  Our ability to listen is our gift to those around us. Too much talk is sign of self-centeredness and insecurity. If you hear yourself talking excessively, take care.

--John McQuiston II
Always We Begin Again:
The Benedictine Way of Living
Find it from Church Publishing HERE
(available January 2011)