speaking in silence.

One of my favorite songs, introduced to me from summer 2010, repeats a simple but profound phrase, “spoke more in the silence.” Though the artist most eloquently sang such words within a connotation of romance, this small thought unravels more and more personal meaning with each step into the wanderlust season of Maeg and I’s journey: 
Sometimes, the silence of our day speaks More. Whether in the literal and tranquil silence of the Iachelli’s private villa in the countryside north of Rome, or in the harmonious and reverent silence within the immensely intricate Roman Santa Maria cathedral, or merely in the internal silence of an introspective countenance amidst the crowded chaos in the bustling cobblestone streets of the one of the world’s largest cities. Silence manifests itself in the present. And when we subconsciously or consciously recognize this truthful irony, we’ll probably hear more than if we ignored it.

…like we might affirm the Italian stereotype of familial-importance as we hear the laughter and chatter resound from orchard to vineyard on the Iachelli’s land. We might hear our dream resolve after our 1 Euro coin splashes into the shallow pool below the Trevi Fountain. Or we may hear a hint of comprehendible wisdom in the soft dialogue of two old Italian men, sitting in the corner of the quaint Roman bookstore we discovered.

Nevertheless, we acknowledge on the opportunity and challenge to hear More this fall.

Within our craving to explore the new world before us, within a desire to un-layer life’s meaning around us, we want to know what truly is being Spoken in silence-regardless its form. And with practice and absence of distractions, we’ll learn to hear it. Hear Him.

He who has ears, let him hear. Matthew 11:15