Snow Day!...and silence

For many children and others this is a snow day --no school or work -- a sabbath. Funerals don't get cancelled because of snow, so I am working. I shovelled the driveway this morning and enjoyed the relative quiet which seems to exist as snow falls.

The photo here is obviously not of a snowstorm but the quiet undersea world of a coral reef. While in Cuba we snorkelled several times and loved this almost silent, contemplative world. We learned to just hang in the water rather than thrash around so that the fish would emerge from hiding.

I took a book with me to Cuba called Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality. The author, J. Brent Bill, points out that for Quakers silence has a sacramental quality, akin to the eucharist or communion practiced by other Christian groups. In our move-fast, act-fast world it is important to take our "silence sabbaths" and be aware of the presence of the God of life and love for all of creation. Whether it is in a flurry of snowflakes or a school of tropical fish, God is with us.