Susan, on another list, recently posted this remarkable quotation taken from Robert Sardello's Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness:

Each of us has an ever-faithful companion--presence. Something that is always with us. Something that helps us to live with inner integrity and depth, to see through the outer coverings of others and of the world to their purpose and core being, and to get over placing ourselves at the center of everything. This companion-presence is Silence. It never goes away. We go away from it, become distracted and forgetful, and lose the manners needed to nurture companionship with it. We go away from Silence into the world of noise as if into a vast buzzing of insects, pushed to exist within the permanent irritation of dissonance. [...] Silence is palpable. [...]What if, to some degree, the "subjective" experience of God is also subjectively stated? ...What one names "God," for example, another may call "Silence." Certainly, in my devotions the lines between what I "know" of God/Silence often dissolve.

I share Susan's posting of this quotation with you because I have found that Sardello's observation, so creditably articulated, has often been mine. And perhaps yours? My friend Susan recommends that I get a copy of this book, and one reviewer at amazon.com confirms her recommendation: "Get this book now. Crawl naked over brocken glass to get a copy. Read this book before you die." It's Sunday morning and the Gospel, I hope, will remind that I do in fact need to die. I hope it will be a good death. If, however, I live through the week, I should be able to pick up my (used) copy in the mail box sometime this week.