"In the silence, Spirit speaks Truth," Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore wrote explaining his favorite practice for connecting with the divine. But Silence doesn't necessarily mean soundlessness.
When I woke this morning, both ears needed "popping." No amount of yawning, jaw flexing or nostril plugging would clear the block. So I embraced the condition and resolved to mindfully mute the usual noise of my morning commute: No news. No music. No podcasts. No phone.
Turns out the drive was blissful. Muting interrupted my habitual unconscious hurrying: I sat back instead of hunching over the wheel. I heard the cascade of sound generated by my Mini Cooper in motion and felt grateful....for reliable transport, signaled by the engine's steady purring; for the marvel of modern tech that switches the ignition off and on at stoplights; for the mostly well-paved roads humming under rolling tires. (It's peak pothole season in Chicago.) The 15-minute trip was a restorative practice in present-moment awareness that completely recalibrated my mindset.
Sometimes, we're called to turn a deaf ear to the noise that otherwise jams our ability to hear what is eternally True. Spirit is always speaking to us in language without limitation: Spoken and not. Audible and not. Logical and not. The determining factor is whether we have ears to hear.