Have you ever been "stricken with silence"? If so, you have tasted the ineffable; you have had a mystical experience. Silence is too often defined as "the absence of something" when it is much more than that. Silence is also a search for something, a search for the depths, for the source. Many of the mystical awakenings experienced by astronauts and cosmonauts in space have been triggered by the cosmic silence they have encountered there. Similar things happen to persons swimming in the depths of the sea or spelunking in the caves of Mother Earth. Silence moves people. That is why it is so essential to meditation practices, including the art of listening to our images. Being, one might say, is silent. We must embrace silence in order to experience being. Then -- and only then -- does it speak deep truths to us. As Rilke says: "Being-silent. Who keeps innerly silent, touches the roots of speech."
Those who live with integrity are like
a garden in full bloom,
whose blossoms beautify the earth.
They are planted in the dwelling place
of Love,
their produce nourishes those
who pass by.
All through their lives they produce
bountiful harvests,
overflowing as a cornucopia of
the finest fruits,
Magnifying the Loving and Gracious Creator,
living as sons and daughters
of the Most High.