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Good Morning.

I enjoy using noise reducing headphones. A click of the switch and it’s… my own choice of noise. How unaccustomed we are to an absence of noise, even to the extent that we can become fearful in a deep silence. We fill most of our time surrounded by noise. But Silence isn’t only a lack of decibels, and it isn’t a place where there is nothing. Silence should be a comfortable space where we can breathe and rest and become aware of what is essential for us to note at this moment.

I’m intrigued by what silence might mean if I’m sitting on the bus or the tube. Because silence isn’t a lack of noise as an external thing. It’s also about how we can go to a place where we have an internal silence. Call it a balance, and realise you can find that as much by going to hear a symphony; seeing a good movie alone that enriches the soul, and that can be a form of silence; reading a good book that is soul- filled. We have at our fingertips so many options to silence where external and internal noise can be set aside and ignored for short and even longer periods of time. It is a kind of prayer. And of course traditional prayer is sitting still before God and being invited to become more and more yourself.

God, giver of life,

we thank You for the gift of Your compassionate love

which soothes and strengthens us.

May we be always open to receive You in moments of unexpected silence

Grant us a spirit of openness to you as we journey deeper into your love

Amen.