On a clear August day back in 2001, i was sitting in my kayak in the middle of one of this city's many lakes...listening. I stopped paddling and just listened. It was about eight o'clock in the morning. I just sat there and listened to what I thought would be silence. Later I reflected on that moment. Here is what I wrote:
Noise vs. Silence
The noise of the world is deafening
Me and the kayak sitting
here
On the perfectly still, peaceful lake,
While
speedboats, fishing boats roar,
Lawn mowers are grinding,
Teenagers’
music is blaring, loudly,
The bass taking over the sound of
our heartbeats,
Cars
just beyond the beach are racing past,
Televisions, phones, radios,
It
is hard to escape the noise of the world,
My ears ringing constantly,
So
loud, I can’t think,
Can’t stop, can’t listen,
Listen
to the heartbeat,
Listen to the breathing,
Hear
the wind,
And know what the Spirit is Saying.
Silence vs. Truth
The silence of the World is
heart-wrenching,
Everyone
speaks but,
No one says anything,
Exaggerations,
sarcasm, anger, teasing,
Idioms, Slang, small talk, big talk,
Beating
around the bush,
Skirting the issues,
But
secrets are kept,
Lies are told,
And
silence is golden,
A silence so pervasive that,
Our
heart is closed now,
Unable to hear the heartbeat,
Listen
to the breathing,
Feel the pulse of the world,
And
know what the soul is saying.
Silence & Truth
Are we listening?
Can
we hear?
Are we speaking?
What
does the Spirit say?
What do you notice about noise and silence?
jules
