"We need to find God and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature-trees and flowers and grass-grow in silence. See the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life."
~Mother Teresa of Calcutta

I have been searching after silence lately. Perhaps that also means I am searching after God. I don't know about you but I often have the sense that the information coming my way is about to overwhelm me. Between email, land line, cell phone, television, radio, and all the other ways that speak at us, it is rare to find a moment of silence. Even our worship services have little silence in them these days.There are very few places where no musak is piped in, no sound is heard. Even libraries are loud!

Last evening my husband and I were walking through a wooded path near the backwaters of the Mississippi River. Even if we had been silent, the air was filled with the song and verse of countless others. The red-winged blackbird was courting another across the pond blodly singing his love song. The robin was vocally protecting its turf in the trees nearby. The early season's frogs were making a beautiful racket of sound that cannot be fully described in words. The wind was strong and the trees were creeking and cracking all around us. Our conversation was accompanied by the symphony of spring as we made our way down the cool, shaded path.

Along the path on each side, wild violets poured forth a dainty lavender. My husband began to say something and before I even realized it, my voice rang out:"SHHHHH!" I stopped before the violets and simply looked at them. How is it that something so sweet, so simple, so pure, exists? How did they get there without anyone planting them? It seemed the only response was a reverent silence. I did not mean to be rude in my shushing. It is just what seemed necessary at the moment.

Many scenes require our silence though they don't often receive the quiet they deserve. Look around. Where is silence called for in your daily life? What sight is just outside your vision that asks not more sound, but less? Pay attention. Something you encounter may be asking for a different voice….one that says nothing but watches with a deep and abiding attention. I am convinced the world needs more of this lack of sound. I am convinced our souls are healed by just such an action. I am convinced this is prayer.