"Silence"
the Rev. Daniel Budd
Date: February 21, 2010
This Sunday’s service focused upon silence. There were three sections of three readings each, followed by a period of silence. Below are the readings or their source.
Opening Words
Let there be silence.
Let there be reverence, in your heart;
Let all the sounds of earth flood over you
and be heard because
you have known how to keep silence in yourself
in order that you may receive that which only silence can make possible.
Drop down your burdens on the earth
and feel the strength of earth
well up through you, flow upward from the ground
through bone and sinew, into strength
as Antaeus did, knowing himself to be whole only
as he was one with the earth.
Rest your heart in silence
and a thousand songs you never heard before
will pour into your ears.
Throw open the doors of your heart to all
and [with this invitation]
your heart will be full
and they who come be filled as well.
Let there be silence;
Let there be reverence;
let there be welcome,
And there will be wonder in your heart.
- the Rev. Robert Terry Weston
I.
1. A reading (edited) by the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman from Deep Is the Hunger, Friends United Press,
2. “Flickering Mind” – Denise Levertov, Selected Poems, New Directions NY.
3. “Stillness, Emptiness” (based upon chapter 11, Tao Te Ching), from Jacob Trapp, In Stillness Renewal – Meditations, Yucca Printing, Santa Fe NM, p. 16.
II.
1. A selection from Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, Maya Angelou, Bantam Books NY, p. 137ff.
2. “The Inner History of a Day,” John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us.
3. “Silence,” Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky, trans.)
A day of Silence
Can be a pilgrimage in itself.
A day of Silence
Can help you listen
To the Soul play
Its marvelous lute and drum.
Is not most talking
A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?
I thought we came here
To surrender in Silence,
To yield to Light and Happiness,
To Dance within
In celebration of Love’s Victory!
III.
1. From Parabola, “Silence,” Spring 2008
He (the American Indian) believes profoundly in silence – the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence – not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon the surface of shining pool – his, in themind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life.
If you ask him: “What is silence?” he will answer: “It is the Great Mystery!” “The holy silence is His voice.” - Ohiyesa
2. “In Stillness Renewed” and “A Quiet Congregation,” from Jacob Trapp, In Stillness Renewal – Meditations, Yucca Printing,
3. from Like This, Jelaluddin Rumi (Coleman Barks, trans.) Maypop Press,
Benediction
“blessing the boats”
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that
- Lucille Clifton