Silence, Waiting for Dolphins, Chant
“When chant music stops, sometimes quite abruptly, an audible silence reverberates throughout the room, especially in the high arches of the oratories in which it is sung. If we listen carefully, we discover that … chant inducts us into this silence that is the ground of our being.”
—David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B., in The Music of Silence: Entering the Sacred Rhythms of Monastic Experience (HarperCollins, 1995).
We have often sat silently on a balcony overlooking the Gulf in the early morning, watching, anticipating the sunrise, waiting for the dolphins to make their first run. Then we wait for a line of pelicans to silently sweep by. The rhythm of the waves is like a heartbeat. Today it is a slowly beating heart. Yesterday the heartbeat was faster.
At home in Arkansas, we sit with our son and his family on his back deck as the sun sets behind the woods and wait for the hummingbirds to come and feed before they finally rest for the evening. Nature seems to be calling us to be still, to wait. Our own heartbeat slows. Our bodies seem to confirm that we are connecting to something greater than ourselves. Our minds want to repeat Julian of Norwich’s famous words, “… and all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” We are ready for whatever comes. We think. Maybe. The dryer stops working. We know whom to call for help, and again we wait—now for the repair workers to come. We pray to take time between tasks, between breakdowns.
What do we do between sunrise, dolphins, pelican, sunset, and hummingbird times? One more suggestion is: wait for the heartbeat of music, especially the “silence between the notes” of Gregorian Chant. One of the most popular versions to listen to has been CHANT by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos. If you get “hooked,” you may want to read their companion book, The Music of Silence, by Brother David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B., which may then lead you to a desire to follow in some form the Canonical Hours or seasons of the day. Another related book is simply called, CHANT, by Katharine Le Mee, who tells you more about the origins, form, practice, and healing power of Gregorian Chant.
God is constantly calling to us; but God seems for many to speak most clearly in the silence between sunrise, pelican, dolphin, chant, and sunset hummingbird times.
It has been a privilege to follow with you the days of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Alleluia for a while. I hope you will continue with us during Lent and Easter in the Daily Something each morning and in the companion book, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Lent and Easter.
Rebecca Spooner is leading a morning retreat about the Enneagram at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church this Saturday February 29th from 9 to 1. The Cost is $15. Sign up on St. Mark’s website lovesaintmarks.org. Go to What’s on, then Events.
Joanna . joannaseibert.com