The Silence

Dimly in my dreams I hear a children's choir singing a sweet song: their music is heard in the heart and resonates in the mind. Let us listen together: There, under the oak tree! * * * * * One night changed everything: I listened as the traveler told about his journey across three continents, searching for five minutes of silence. Everywhere was the clamor, the clangor, the sheer noise of the world. Is there a niche somewhere of silence? Just five minutes, and if there is five minutes, could there be... No, let us proceed slowly, deliberately like a robin scuffing for food in winter. * * * * * One night I listened to an old wanderer tell of his journeys across three continents searching for The Silence. Everywhere he turned he felt there were promises but they slipped away. Once, a lifetime ago, he had stopped at a caravan serai, expecting to find a measure of peace. Surrounded by exhausted animals and despairing men, he surrendered to sleep, and fell into an abyss of dreams. His first dreams were nightmarish. He was paralyzed, but he dreamed on and dreamed himself past winter, into spring, and even tasted fresh water cool his lips. He rose out of the dream-depths, and woke up to a festival of villagers and travelers at the caravan serai. It was not the peace he desired, but it was not the turmoil he feared. It was a middle zone, an open place that extended past what he could see or imagine. It was sufficient. He knew his journeying was over. His quest had failed. The silence he had found was soul-silence, only a subsequent life of care and prudence could preserve its benefits. He had nothing to give to others - he could only rescue himself... I left him and we were both in a rare mood of hope. As he sat in reverie, he knew his quest, no longer his affair, had been passed on to me. Within me was a vibrant spring, all my inner strengths were washed clean, and joined together in a wholeness of readiness. I would have gifts to share with all the others in due time. There was no need to rush. Ahead of me was the Shrine of Silence I would find soon, or perhaps it would find me. Its healing will rescue and redeem.