Within each of us there is a silence
–A silence as vast as the universe.
We are afraid of it . . . and we long for it.
When we experience that silence, we remember
who we are: creatures of the stars, created
from the cooling of this planet, created
from dust and gas, created
from the elements, created
from time and space . . . created
from silence.
Silence is the source of all that exists,
the unfathomable stillness where vibration began
–the first oscillation, the first word,
from which life emerged. Silence is our deepest nature,
our home, our common ground, our peace.
Silence reveals, Silence heals,
Silence is where God dwells.
We yearn to be there. We yearn to share it.
And yet in our present culture,
silence is something like an endangered species . . .
an endangered fundamental.
The experience of silence is now so rare
That we must guard and treasure it.
This is especially true for shared silence.
Sharing silence with others is a political act,
Silence brings us back to silence, to our senses,
to our selves. It locates us. Without that return
we can go so far away from our true natures
that we end up, quite literally,
beside ourselves. We live blindly and act thoughtlessly.
We endanger the delicate balance which sustains
Our lives, our communities, and our planet.
I believe that each of us can make a tremendous
difference. Politicians and visionaries will not return us to the sacredness of life. That
will be done by ordinary men and women
who gather neighbors and friends together and say,
“Remember to breathe, remember to feel, remember to care.
Remember life. Let us do this together
For ourselves and our children and our children’s children.”
~~Gunilla Norris~~