15th December, 2024
Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography (Mariner Books, 2001), 183.
Image: Greg Sellentin, Arkansas, USA, unsplash.com/@sailorgreg123
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'I was recently afforded the unusual privilege of joining a Benedictine community in North Dakota for its annual retreat. …The retreat schedule was simple and liveable, reflecting a moderation that is typically Benedictine. … it was all conducted without any chit-chat. I am a frequent guest at several monasteries across the Great Plains that follow silence at certain hours, but I had never before immersed myself in the kind of silence that sinks into your bones. I felt as if I were breathing deeply for the first time in years.
To live communally in silence is to admit a new power into your life. In a sense, you are giving silence its due. But this silence is not passive, and soon you realize that this silence has the power to change you. I’ve gained a new respect for my contemplative friends, Cistercians and Trappists; to live this kind of silence, day in, day out, must be an act of bravery.'
Pages 183-184.
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