Found this morning at Julie Unplugged and wanted to put a pin in them so I'm marking them here:Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self. It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want.
--M. Basil Pennington
Silence is the measure of the power to act; that is, a person never has more power to act than he has silence. Anyone can understand that to do something is far greater than to talk about doing it. If, therefore, a person has a plan or idea and is fully resolved to carry it out, he does not need to talk about it. What he talks about in connection with the proposed action is what he is most unsure of and most unwilling to do.
--Soren Kierkegaard
(image taken at Sommes Sound on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, September 2007)
3 comments:
OH MY!!!!! I didn't really read past the first quote because the first one impacted me so much!! That has so been my experience. It reminded me of the days when I used to always have the radio on in the car. Now when driving the kids to and from school, I love the silence. I love to be alone with my thoughts and ponderings, and how through that I communicate to God.
You see I was forced to face myself and it wasn't/hasn't been pretty. But these days I often find myself saying "I like who I've become in the process". I'm not perfect, but oh the depth you can draw from when you are resurrected from the dead.
I'm sure there's a LOT more dying in the future, but God's always been faithful in the blessings that come after.
Thanks for posting it! I might "steal" it for my blog! :o)
we so HAVE to meet! i haven't listened to the radio in the car for about 6 years now and feel the exact same way.
you don't have to steal, cuz I share nice :D
breath of fresh air that Pennington quote was
just had the mother-in-law here for a week, a very religious woman who never shuts up!
she has to turn every conversation into a sermon . . .
they left this morning and I am so enjoying the silence :)
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