"He who does not understand your silence, will not understand your words."
Author Unknown
~The Words Of Silence~
These words of my silence
My body’s translation
A silent language
Slow motion to time
Fine lines of emotion
An intricate potion
Giving wings to colorless
titles
Pouring from heart
From center ~ unfolding
With sparkle and silence
Such unique composition
If I should want to speak
With meaning
I should say nothing at
all
But everything with eyes
Hands, and shortness of
breath
Till fire ignites...
From the steal of my
kiss~
Leila A. Fortier
? 1997 ?
Looking back into my youth, I see that I have
felt this way for some time…Love has never been a word I have been comfortable “using”.
I have always viewed the word as being highly abused…and would be better
expressed in action. Love, is an action, not a word. Perhaps I have carried
this belief with a bit of pride, even in the face of hurting or wounding those
I care most for by nature of my silence. Therefore, I decided to do some
research on the nature of silence, and this was my discovery and discussion I
would like to open:
My research concluded that my thoughts and
views are far from standing alone. Though, when set against the backdrop of
societies “norm” I may very much “feel” alone. Since the beginning of time, the
nature of silence holds countless documentation by poets, artists,
philosophers, and mystics as being a wise and even holy attribute.
Let’s look at Christianity. I got to thinking
about the love of Christ. If you were to ask any Christian if Christ loved
them, I am quite certain they would say, yes. But in pouring through the New
Testament, I could not find a single line or reference to Christ verbally
proclaiming His love for the people. The closest I found was:
“This is my commandment,
That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
1 John 15:12
How did Christ love us? Not by telling us…but
by showing us. To me, this proclaims an action. Christ did not love us in word,
He loved us in action and deed. We know
with all our hearts that He loves us, not because He said it…but because He
showed it.
“My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth”
1 John 3:18
And how do we demonstrate our love for one
another? It is clearly defined for us…and even if you are not Christian (as I myself
embrace all forms of faith), I am certain anyone can find truth in this
scripture:
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor
others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth. It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-20
I dare say that the closest we as humans can
come to this kind of unconditional love, is with our children. The rest of our
relations with friends, family, coworkers etc. is set within the confines of
conditions. Think about it…How many times have we said or heard “I will love
you forever as long as…” We all have our “deal breakers”…But I don’t think this
is what Christ has in mind. Yet, I know personally, that there is no wrong on
the face of this earth that my own son could commit that would vanquish my love
for him. He could disappoint me, anger or sadden me…but never, ever could my
love be erased. The best I can do with all other forms of love in my life is to
try my best to live up to love’s highest potential. For me…this is done in
active silence.
Also said by me:
“Love
Is: The embodiment of all that is said within silence”
“Love
need not be spoken for it is inwardly heard”
“My
actions will ever speak louder than my boldest words”
“Love
is living IN the mystery; not solving it. Be not the word of love but the
breath of it”
Let us not be the “Doubting Thomas” who needs
shallow affirmation. Let us learn to “Be” the love we wish to receive…This is
done by nature of our faith; the same faith we have that Christ loves
us, even though we do not hear him say it. And if you really think about it; “Faith”
is also a silent word:
"Faith is an oasis in the heart which
will never be reached by the caravan of thinking”
Gibran
"Mysteries are not to be solved. The
eye goes blind when it only wants to see why."
Rumi
Again, my thoughts are not purely Christian,
but shared with many great poets, mystics and thinkers from different aspects
of faith, all over the world since the beginning of time. Lest I digress…here
is just a sampling of quotes from these minds:
~Rumi~
“Silence
is the language of God, all else is poor translation”
"If I could wake completely,
I would say without speaking why I'm ashamed of using words"
"Let us
speak silently like spirits and avoid talkers who use words in vain"
“A great silence overcomes me, and I wonder
why I ever thought to use language”
“Let
silence take you to the core of life. All your talk is worthless when compared with
one whisper of the Beloved”
“Ground yourself, strip yourself down, To
blind loving silence”
“This poetry. I never
know what I'm going to say. I don't plan it. When I'm outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all”
“When the ocean is searching for you, don't walk into the
language-river. Listen to the ocean,
and bring your talking business to an end”
“Love said to me, there
is nothing that is not me. Be silent”
~Gibran~
“You talk when you cease to be at peace
with your thoughts”
“There are those among you who seek the
talkative through fear of being alone”
“For thought is a bird of space, that in
a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly”
“Love is a sacred mystery. To those who love, it remains forever
wordless”
“When love becomes vast, love becomes
wordless”
“I purified my lips with sacred fire that I might
speak of love, but when I opened my mouth to speak, I found myself mute”
“In the depths of my soul there are songs
unwilling to take the garb of words, songs living as seed in my heart. They
will not flow with ink onto paper. Like a translucent veil, they are wrapped
about emotions that can never flow sweetly on my tongue”
“I
place the word I wish to utter in the very heart of silence; for silence
preserves all that we say with affection, with zeal, and with faith”
~Tagore~
“When the voice of the silent touches my
words, I know him and therefore know myself”
“The small truth has words which
are clear; the great truth has great silence”
~Neruda~
“Let me talk to you with your silence that
is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring”
~Mother Teresa~
“See
how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon
and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls”
~Ausonius~
“He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak”
~Abu-Said Abil-Kheir~
“When you read a single page from the silent book of your heart, you will
laugh at all this chattering, all this pretentious learning”
~Emily Dickenson~
“It
was a quiet way --He asked if I was his --I made no answer of the tongue
But answer of the Eyes”
~Umar Ubn Al Farid~
“Resist the calls of wrangling talk, and
save yourself from false claims and their assaults, which truly aim only
to be heard"
~Kabir~
"It
cannot be told by the words of the mouth, it cannot be written on paper: It is
like a dumb person who tastes a sweet thing — how shall it be explained?"
*In essence...Love is silent because it is truly ineffable*