Sacred Stillness Is Like A Pond

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Photo of the Pond at the Portiuncula Hermitage in Jerusalem, Ohio

A  Desert Father was once asked about silence. He sat there for a long while and simply poured some water into a bowl and said, "Look at the water." It was brown and murky. He sat there a while longer and said," look at the water now and see how clear it has become." It was now pristine.  Then he spoke further, "So it is with anyone who lives in a crowd; because of the turbulence, he does not see his sins: but when he has been quiet, above all in solitude, then he recognizes his own faults." 

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