Silence

While it is tempting to just leave a "blank" post (and with the topic, it would be appropriate), I suppose I should, as ironic as it might be, speak a few words about silence.

I'm not just talking about turning off the TV, radio, computer, alarms, cell phones, etc... everything that can prove to be such a terrible distraction.  Because, while that would be quiet, and quiet is needed for silence; however, quiet does not always beget silence.  Silence, especially interior silence, is the fertile ground where one goes to meet two people; themselves and God.  It has to be fostered, culled, and repeatedly renewed, day after day.  In repeated exposure to silence, one meets themselves, sometimes for the first time ever.  I know my own journey with it has provided me with many insights about my own weaknesses; the root causes, and the manifestations of them.  It is here, too, that I learn how to overcome such weaknesses, or when that is not possible, how to live with them, how to be a whole person even with such a broken and sinful nature.

My encouragement to others is to find this silence wherever possible, and to embrace it, through the fears, the pains, the discomfort.... because it is through these sufferings do the fruits of joy, peace, and love can grow.  It is through facing one's own demons, to lighten the loads of carrying such burdens can one share freely those fruits with others, and can one more freely life a Christ-like life.