Our Latin Tradition defines peace as tranquillitas ordinis, the stillness of order. Order is inseparable from silence, but this is a dynamic silence. The tranquility of order is a dynamic tranquility, the stillness of a flame burning in perfect calm, of a wheel spinning so fast that it seems to stand still.
Silence in this sense is not only a quality of the environment, but primarily an attitude, an attitude of listening. This is a gift that each of us is invited to give all others: the gift of silence. Let us then give one another silence.
And let us begin right now. Let us give to one another that gift of silence, so that we can listen together and listen to one another. Only in this silence will we be able to hear that gentle breath of peace, that music to which the spheres dance, that universal harmony to which we too, hope to dance.
- Brother David Steindl-Rast in A listening Heart