Silent Retreat
by Cynthia Welman
Here at the Retreat Center, we are all being silent—
Silence is when I’m not talking
but I can hear my own thoughts
so much better when I’m not thinking
about what I will say next.
Silence is when you’re not talking
but I can see what you aren’t saying
by the set of your shoulders
and the expressions on your face.
When I’m silent my senses seem to open up
and move forward in my awareness—
I feel the breeze like a blessing on my skin
and the sun warming my face during walking meditation.
I feel the softness of the clothes I am wearing
and my breath entering and leaving my nose.
When I’m silent, I hear a symphony of sounds
that I wasn’t aware of before—
The birds and the crickets and the frogs,
the owl in the tree above, the whisper of the breeze
and the soft slap of my shoes on the pavement
as I walk back to my room for the night.
And then the clock on the desk ticking,
the door closing quietly down the hall,
and the faint scratching
of my pen on the page.
Now I see silence
isn’t silent
at all.
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