Reflection for July 13

A Hard Silence 
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer known for writing contemplative music and for his love of bells and silence. In an interview, Pärt said that “silence must be approached with a feeling of awe. And when we speak about silence, we must keep in mind that it has two different wings, so to speak. Silence can be both that which is outside of us and that which is inside a person. The silence of our soul, which isn’t even affected by external distractions, is actually more crucial but more difficult to achieve” (NPR, June 2; Christian Century, July 9, 2014).