Our world is so loud. Many different sounds bombard our ears and take peace away from our souls. So we should not be surprised that people try to escape the cities looking for rest in the mountains. Over the last few years I've noticed something interesting. The places that used to be an oasis of silence are now full of city noise. Music from speakers, loud BBQ parties at camp sites, even the trails are busy with loud people.
My last very quiet time in the mountains was two months ago, when the snow was still covering the valleys. I had the most wonderful night. My friend and I were watching the most wonderful light of the moon surrounded by stars. Everything was completely silent and only the spring nearby gave a whispering. In the middle of this majestic experience we opened our Breviaries and said Night Prayers. In this total silence every word of our prayer sounded like a bell. Because that's how prayers are supposed to be. Said in complete silence our prayers rise up like the sound of Church Bells. Every word turns into a beautiful hymn of glory offered to God.
I look forward to going there again. Sirach said that he who found a friend found a treasure. But there is something more to say, he who can pray with a friend to God has found a path to holiness. The blessed silence of the mountains, the light of the moon and stars, and the words of the Psalms took me away from the noise of this world and brought internal peace. It does not surprise me anymore that every time God wanted to say something to the prophets, He took them up to a mountain. Only there, away from the noise of the world, did He reveal to them the Truth.
Today, while the rectory is in creative chaos, I am looking forward to the time when I will be able to stay there in my small oasis of silence to contemplate the beauty of the Words given to us by God. In the meantime I use any opportunity to escape and hide in the mountains hoping to be closer and closer to God. I even got an idea that I should take a mortgage and buy somewhere above 9000 feet-- a small piece of land where I could go and grow in the holy silence in the presence of God praying with a friend.