The interplay between LISTEN and SILENT is quite profound.

It is no accident that two words with the same letters reflect a message of extreme value

No, make that . . . ‘worth’.

I have pondered the idea of ‘listening’ for decades and, reasonably, thought it referred to the sounds of passing traffic, the nagging voice of a distraught shopper, cries of love, or the helpless pleas of the condemned. Yet, amidst all the sounds a person can hear during the day and night, I felt something was missing. . . something untouched.

And it remained that way until I discovered how to truly listen – tothe silence.

An earnest journey of prayer, meditation, contemplation, and stillness brought me to an edge – everso close to what I felt existed on the other side of the sun (or somewhere called eternity).

But prayers of petition came with expectations, frustrations, wanting,and needing that were sometimes accompanied by desperation and occasionally ended with thanksgiving.

Meditation, however, came with action. It came with visualisations and journeys, imaging, and wild fantasies.

Contemplation came with focused thoughts,uncommon awareness, wild imaginings, and creative bursts.

Stillness was the most difficult. It came plagued with physicality, with the desire to scratch and move, disturbed by tasks and deadlines, and the tangible clung to my body in whatever way possible.

Until, when all was said and done . . .

. . . I chose Surrender

It took years.

It took patience.

It took perseverance.

It took discipline.

It takes diligence.

It takes being – not doing.

It takes trust.

It takes acceptance.

In Silence, all of nature pauses. The stars dare not move; dust particles dare not fall.When everything ceases to act, do, move, or form . . .

In that state – you Listen.

No orchestra or symphony on Earth can capture the ringing of the spheres and movement of solar systems. Likewise, neither a grand piano nor a cello can mimic the dimensions of sounds in this outer realm.

And in a lifetime, nothing can adequately prepare you for the Voice that speaks so clearly your ears cannot help but hear it.

It is a Voice that saturates every cell ofyour being and nourishes you so completely that you feel like a galaxy with enough life in you for 1000 years.

That Voice. The Voice that your soul has longed for is there . . .

In the Silence . . .

For when life is no longer heeded, the immaculate happens.”