Quietness

Quietness

By Andrea Lingle

There are many kinds of silence.
Companionable, awkward, and that of the grave.

There are many kinds of hushed.
Snowfall, waiting, and that of the whisper.

There are many kinds of quiet.
Tiptoe, longing, and that of the heart that knows that it is beloved.

Find me a soul that knows that it is seen and regarded as wholly loved,
and that is a soul that can be quiet.

There are many kinds of love.
Brotherly, passionate, and the one that remains after the mind has gone.

There are many kinds of hope.
Spring, birth, and the one that is born of time.

There are many kinds of sorrow.
Lament, disappointment, and the one that leads you to quietness.

The quietness that is found in knowing that sorrow without bitterness frees us from the frenetic clamor after happiness.

There are many kinds of still.
Water, life, and the one born of grief.

There are many kinds of darkness.
Of the night, of the richest soil, and the one of the struggle of the soul.

There are many kinds of peace.
Of a sleeping child, of the starlight, and the one that joins with quiet.

A joining of quiet, sorrow, and peace that frees us toward the great unknowable mystery that holds our quiet and our sorrow and gives us peace.

That we may in turn learn to hold those for our sisters and brothers that they, too, may find the freedom of quiet.

A Lenten Blessing:

 May the blessing of lament bring you rest, and may you find strength in knowing that God inhabits your sorrow.