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By Chris Quilpa

When I was under the weather (and on self-quarantine in our master bedroom) during the past Christmas season, there were nights I wanted to sleep some more. But, I couldn’t, even though I tried hard. So what did I do in those sleepless moments? I was actively thinking.

One time, in the wee hours, I found myself scribbling something on a notepad: “Silence is a precious gift, something to cherish and to take advantage of at the moment you encounter it. This is, to me, a grace-blessing from God.

“Silence is powerful and so helpful in restoring your sanity and sensibility. It provides you the opportunity to think and to listen deeply to what the inner voice of your heart is telling you.

“It gives you the time to be at peace with yourself and your God. It helps make your heart and mind and body and soul in tune with nature, as Mother Nature nurtures the ailing environment, ecosystems and the world as a whole.

“Silence heals and treats a troubled soul. It calms the nerves and senses, with ample opportunity for you to pray, to meditate and to listen to the Voice and Word of God dwelling in you at the moment.

“Silence is indeed a precious gift that can restore your ailing body to recover and become well again. Truly, Silence is a gift of/from God!”

While the outside world is actively busy and noisy, and you’re alone, but not lonely, in your room, you can experience silence. With a window overlooking your backyard that depicts a gray, shady environment — dried leaves on the ground and a standing tall maple tree that is leafless and seem lifeless with branches extended outwardly and appearing to be praying to the Almighty God — there is that sense of peace and serenity, amidst an impending change of weather or climate change.

In my notepad, I also wrote: “The world was at peace on Christmas Day because the Word made flesh came down and dwelt among us! What a great feeling of relief! The world stopped being busy and noisy. Peace on earth prevailed that moment.”

In all of your life, have you ever thought, even in a split second, why we need to be in a state of silence, to be at peace with others, even for a while? We all long for peace, don’t we?

That peace we’ve been wishing for since time immemorial remains elusive. Where and when can we find it? To long for peace, you have to long for silence. And silence is so volatile that when you encounter it, grab and claim it, and value it because the moment you have it you feel at peace with yourself and your God. We experienced peace at Christmas.

Having this “silence,” you forget, even for a moment, that there’s still this COVID-19 pandemic roaming around the world. Silence allowed us to feel at peace with ourselves and the world.

I don’t mean you have to get sick to encounter or experience silence in your life. You can have silence whenever and wherever you crave for it. It’s just in you to feel it and experience it.

Silence is not synonymous with peace but a component or a part of it. It is, to me, crucial to attain peace, peace of mind, peace that we all long for in life and the world.

In silence, there is peace, serenity, hope, love. There is an opportunity to be useful and productive. There is  a quiet moment that we long for, at times. Such moments allow us to be aware of what is important at that very moment in our life. And, in the end, we express our gratitude to our Creator-God for the silence we encountered and for the life that we have, with our family members and friends. That’s when we feel at ease and at peace with ourselves.

 

Chris A. Quilpa, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, lives in Suffolk, Chesapeake and Portsmouth. Email him at chris.a.quilpa@gmail.com.