Silence is necessary for every other tone to be distinct. It is the separator of words, making each a unit of meaning. Silence is part of the symphony, allowing the rhythm to speak. Silence may be rest, but it is also the processing instant in our minds that endows stimuli with meaning. It offers peace, but also growth.
Space is to the physical world, what silence is to air and vibration. Space is needed to define the existence of beauty. Space, or emptiness, defines everything that is visual, by offering difference and rest. Crowdedness and clutter are jarring and usually ugly. Fine jewelry, as well as a majestic mountain peak, or the webbed veins of a leaf, are at their most beautiful when accentuated with space.
Take an individual and the many events of living. So many of us rush around, but sense a hollow feeling or emptiness--and that's a paradox to the things we do, places we visit, people we talk to, games we play, lists we check off, achievements we reach. Could it be that we, too, need silence and space for our very identity? In the pondering and reflecting times of our lives, we, as well as our lives, are defined.
We gather what is desirable--the classic picture I visualize is of a woman gleaning wheat--the very act of history's mankind gaining life's sustenance, the makings for bread. We gather with a purpose, and often with love. Gathering is an intentional choice. The people, events, and things around us tend to crowd out silence. Silence and space are not natural, nor easy in an urbanized, material, busy world, which in our age is also blessed and bombarded with mega-enhanced stimuli. Those who know and utilize silence and space do it intentionally, not by accident.
I think the most important "thing" to gather may be not things or possessions or even experiences, but our own definition, and the meaning of the very lives we live.
But the six words are not complete without "resonance." Resonance is the bouncing, or reflection, of sound from a surface through space to another surface and back. On this voyage, resonance has the property of becoming both sweeter and louder.
I've been confused about pondering and meditation, and often, even about prayer. I resolve to approach them differently--to bring in to pondering the events, objects, and thoughts of my life to then allow the silence and the space to define them. I plan to throw my thoughts against the obstacles that will reflect back, allowing silence and space (and God; hence inspiration) to make them sweeter and of more use. When a thought finally resonates into something greater, I want to be listening. Wish me luck!
God asks us to ponder and pray. He speaks to us generally after we give Him silence and space. It is great paradox that His voice is Silence with meaning—a voice not spoken, but physically sensed in the mind and in the heart. I've heard Him many times--the greatest Resonance.
Silence is necessary for every other tone to be distinct. It is the separator of words, making each a unit of meaning. Silence is part of the symphony, allowing the rhythm to speak. Silence may be rest, but it is also the processing instant in our minds that endows stimuli with meaning. It offers peace, but also growth.
ReplyDeleteSpace is to the physical world, what silence is to air and vibration. Space is needed to define the existence of beauty. Space, or emptiness, defines everything that is visual, by offering difference and rest. Crowdedness and clutter are jarring and usually ugly. Fine jewelry, as well as a majestic mountain peak, or the webbed veins of a leaf, are at their most beautiful when accentuated with space.
Take an individual and the many events of living. So many of us rush around, but sense a hollow feeling or emptiness--and that's a paradox to the things we do, places we visit, people we talk to, games we play, lists we check off, achievements we reach. Could it be that we, too, need silence and space for our very identity? In the pondering and reflecting times of our lives, we, as well as our lives, are defined.
We gather what is desirable--the classic picture I visualize is of a woman gleaning wheat--the very act of history's mankind gaining life's sustenance, the makings for bread. We gather with a purpose, and often with love. Gathering is an intentional choice. The people, events, and things around us tend to crowd out silence. Silence and space are not natural, nor easy in an urbanized, material, busy world, which in our age is also blessed and bombarded with mega-enhanced stimuli. Those who know and utilize silence and space do it intentionally, not by accident.
I think the most important "thing" to gather may be not things or possessions or even experiences, but our own definition, and the meaning of the very lives we live.
But the six words are not complete without "resonance." Resonance is the bouncing, or reflection, of sound from a surface through space to another surface and back. On this voyage, resonance has the property of becoming both sweeter and louder.
I've been confused about pondering and meditation, and often, even about prayer. I resolve to approach them differently--to bring in to pondering the events, objects, and thoughts of my life to then allow the silence and the space to define them. I plan to throw my thoughts against the obstacles that will reflect back, allowing silence and space (and God; hence inspiration) to make them sweeter and of more use. When a thought finally resonates into something greater, I want to be listening. Wish me luck!
God asks us to ponder and pray. He speaks to us generally after we give Him silence and space. It is great paradox that His voice is Silence with meaning—a voice not spoken, but physically sensed in the mind and in the heart. I've heard Him many times--the greatest Resonance.
What is pondering like for you?