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+ + + + + + + July/August 2009

F r i e n d s of S i l e n c e

Vol. XXII, No. 7

“Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?”

Summer Blessings, dear friends.

Summer silence can be filled with blessings from our senses. We can breathe in myriad fragrances on summer breezes and breathe away the stress of troubled times. We can breathe in sounds of birdsong, ocean waves upon a rocky shore, children’s laughter, and breathe away worldly noise and thoughts that bring worry. We can breathe in deeply summer’s array of color—beauty for our souls—and breathe away pollution spawned by ignorance. We can breathe in sweetness as we touch and taste the freshness of ripe fruit and vegetables and breathe away all that does not nourish. Though summer silence is not often still or very quiet, we can breathe in the silence and store memories of summer’s gifts for long winter days.

People can live only by dwelling in the living breath of God. Only in this way can they

be at peace and realize their aspirations. From sunrise to sunset, they dwell in the living

breath of God; every sight and thought is part of that breath. God provides a place for

them filled with clarity and bliss and stillness. In the silence, we are moved by this

wind, which blows everywhere in the world.

. . . from THE LOST SUTRAS OF JESUS, ed. by Ray Riegert & Thomas Moore

Breath of life, You ride the waves of life with me in the rhythms of my communion with you. You enter the comings and goings of each day and in every prayer I breathe. Whether I am in the stillness of quiet prayer or in the fullness of the day’s activity, may your peace flow through my being.

. . . from PRAYER by Joyce Rupp

Breathing is an act of prayer.

. . . Frank Waters

Illustrations in this issue thanks to Jim Richardson.

Take the breath of the new

dawn,

make it a part of you,

it will give you strength.

. . . Hopi saying

Frien

ds of Silen

ce

Breathing is the connection betw

een the mind and the body.

When the m

ind concentrates on the breath, it focuses attention on the present m

oment. B

reathing is the first step on the path to discover your spiritual nature. A

s you get the body to breathe correctly, the m

ind settles down, and that creates fertile

ground to develop whatever spiritual nature exists w

ithin you.

. . . from B

RE

AT

HE

SMA

RT

by Aaron H

oopes

Something inside of m

e has reached to the place w

here the world is breathing.

. . . Kabir

“From LUMEN CHRISTI, the wording ‘Nurture yourself with feasts of breath in silence and solitude’ blew me away, to put it mildly. Although most mornings I do some breathing exercises, it occurred to me that I had not really paid attention to my breath otherwise in months. Going into meditation, I focused on inhaling Divine Love and exhaling peace and harmony. My mind became like a prism, drawing the energy of the pure white light of Love to a focal point and then refracting it into the colors of peace and harmony and breathing them out to the world . . . thirty-five minutes in the Silence without distracting thoughts intruding!”

. . . in a letter from Anne Amerson, with thanks

In any activity that requires concentrated effort, the breath quite

naturally plays a role. If you have ever tried to thread a needle or

repair a watch, you might have observed that without even thinking

about it the breath quiets and deepens. Singers, swimmers, people

who struggle with panic attacks, and a host of others learn the

importance of proper breathing in order to negotiate the respective

tasks at hand. Thus, that the art of contemplative practice can be

facilitated by the breath should come as no surprise.

. . . from INTO THE SILENT LAND by Martin Laird

We live in a time of religious fervor, with adherents too busy clashing with each other to honor the sacred space we all share, the spiritual core of “soul-breath” — the same human family from the same Source breathing the same air on the same planet.

. . . P.M.H. Atwater

Windforest: take our breath away, and return it to us refreshed with the life you can give it. Take it to the ends of the earth, to nourish what you sustain, And bring back what is offered you there to sustain others. Transform our breath so that new life can be nurtured.

. . . from WINDFOREST by Ellen Fremedon

Breathing in I calm my body and mind. Breathing out I smile.

. . . Thich Nhat Hanh

Give us a heart for simple things: Love and laughter Bread and wine Tales and dreams Fill our lives with Green and growing hope Make us a people of justice Whose song is Allelujah And whose name Breathes Love. Amen.

. . . a Prayer by Walter Wink

+

In this latter part of life, my prayer of the heart is most often without words. My

tongue is stilled. My mind is stilled. The prayer of the heart becomes the heart’s

own respiration. I breathe in and I breathe out. It is God’s breath. God breathing

in, God breathing out. It is God’s breath breathing me.

. . . from CIRCLING TO THE CENTER by Susan Tiberghien

There are two graces in breathing: drawing in air and discharging it. The former constrains, the latter refreshes: so marvelously is life mixed.

. . . Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Breathing properly and consciously assumes an attitude of openness and attentive-ness. Our breath has a connection with the deeper emotional layers of conscious-ness. This is evident when we are emotional, angry, or anxious. At the same time, however, our breath remains open to those dimensions of our consciousness where we unfold and become receptive to God. . . . We need to discipline ourselves to attain an inner stillness and receptive attention toward God, who is our beginning.

. . . from THE EYE AWARE by Jerome Witkam

When we understand how precious each moment is, we can treat each breath, each moment, as a newborn baby. Awareness can become that tender.

. . . Michelle McDonald