Max Picard. The World of Silence. Wichita, Kansas: Eighth Day Press, 2002, p.110.
Animals are creatures that lead silence through the world of man and language and are always putting silence down in front of man. Many things that human words have upset are set at rest again by the silence of animals. Animals move through the world of words like a caravan of silence . . . A whole world, that of nature and that of animals, is filled with silence. Nature and animals seem like protuberances of silence. The silence of animals and the silence of nature would not be so great and noble if it were merely a failure of language to materialize. Silence has been entrusted to the animals and to nature as something created for its own sake.
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Returning from a ten day silent retreat, I feel very strongly the presence of silence. It is there underneath the noise and activity, present to us whenever we are ready to stop and notice it. It is deeply healing and refreshing to stop and notice it and be with it. It could be called God, but it invites us to be present and alive without the need for words and concepts.
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I love this passage. It speaks so strongly to the experience I am having now as I travel across the country. Yesterday I hiked with two friends along the appalachiann trail and was struck by my need to comment on every beautiful sight that I saw. As our group separated and we hiked farther apart from each other, I was left in silence to contemplate the beauty around me. Words are so often unneccessary but the urge to use them is so strong. Loving God, draw me into the world you have created and enable me to contemplate it in silence. Let me be present in this moment and reflect on the glorious gift of life.
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