Listen to the Silence

Listen to silence; it has much to say – Islamic poet Rumi

Silence is taking time to journey into the eye of the hurricane.
It’s when I‘m most disturbed by the anxiety that won’t go away or the frustration that comes from unresolved differences or obstructions or personal hurts that I need privacy most” (Joan Chittister, The Monastic Heart).

In the silence
In the eye
I am aware of . . .
. . . emotional disturbances
. . . internal conflicts
. . . contradictions
. . . struggles
. . . wounds
. . . fears
. . . failures
. . . inadequacies.
In the silence
In the eye
I am aware of. . .
. . . what I am called to be, to become.
. . . how I need to grow

• grow into mercy and compassion
• grow into my true self
• grow into God’s image.
  In the silence
  In the eye
  I am aware of. . .
  . . . my powerlessness
  . . . my emptiness
  . . . my weakness
• to grow into my true self.
  In the silence
  In the eye
  I learn to . . .
  . . . surrender, surrender, surrender to
• my ego
• my self-reliance
• my narcissism.

In the silence
In the eye
In the surrender
The Spirit comes, encircles, enwraps, envelopes

• who I am with. . .
• who I am to become.
  And returns, returns. . .
  . . . the new me to the turbulence
• the turbulence of mission.

Listen to silence; it has much to say.