Can you find diamonds in the rough? They surround us each day. If we want to find them, we have slow down, quiet our minds, and become aware of our surroundings. If we do, we can find diamonds in the drops of rain, while others just get wet.
silence
Something to Think About
There are lots of things I’ll never understand. I’ve learned not to try to understand them, but to try to live with them. It’s not easy. I want to ask why, when I do all I hear is silence. It’s not meant to be understood by me at this time. Maybe, down the road a ways, I’ll understand. Until then, I have to live the mystery.
Today’s Poem ~ Talking
Talking
Khalil Gibran
And then a scholar said, “Speak of Talking.”
And he answered, saying:
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;
And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.
And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.
For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words many indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.
The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.
And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.
And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words.
In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.
When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.
Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear;
For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered
When the color is forgotten and the vessel is no more.
A Better Life ~ Heart to Heart
Hearts speak with a different language that is only understood by another heart. When the heart speaks words are not needed. The other heart knows. For the heart to speak, the mind must quiet down. When the mind quiets down, the heart can hear the message from the heart sending its message.
What If . . .?
What if you turned off the laptop, silenced the smart phone, and set the headphones, AirPods aside for one hour and went for a walk? I wonder how you’d feel. I wonder what thoughts will run through your mind. I wonder what sights you’ll see that you hadn’t seen before? Going silent for an hour you’ll get to know yourself a bit better. And, you’ll discover you’re not so bad.
Something to Think About
I went for a nature walk today. I saw lizards, multiple species of birds, two deer, and fortunately no snakes. The only sound I heard was that of a gentle southerly breeze passing through the trees and the birds serenading me. My mind slowly emptied during my walk. By the time I finished, I was relaxed and ready to take on the day. There are times when it is important to ditch the unnatural sounds and let our minds clear out. Think of a nature walk without listening to digital media or engaging in non-stop conversation as spring cleaning for your mind.
Today’s Poem ~ In Silence
In Silence
Thomas Merton
Be still.
Listen to the stones of the wall.
Be silent, they try
to speak your
name.
Listen
to the living walls.
Who are you?
Who
are you? Whose
silence are you?
Who (be quiet)
are you (as these stones
are quiet). Do not
think of what you are
still less of
what you may one day be.
Rather
be what you are (but who?)
be the unthinkable one
you do not know.
O be still, while
you are still alive,
and all things live around you
speaking (I do not hear)
to your own being,
speaking by the unknown
that is in you and in themselves.
“I will try, like them
to be my own silence:
and this is difficult. The whole
world is secretly on fire. The stones
burn, even the stones they burn me.
How can a man be still or
listen to all things burning?
How can he dare to sit with them
when all their silence is on fire?”
Today’s Inspiration ~ It’s In the Silence
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Silence ~ Langston Hughes
Silence
Langston Hughes
I catch the pattern
Of your silence
Before you speak
I do not need
To hear a word.
In your silence
Every tone I seek
Is heard
