I have been a follower of bibliotherapy for the longest time, centering on psychology and spirituality.  Few I have felt truly touched the core of the human spirit, apart from those who sugarcoat the human condition with the promise of quick fixes.  On the other hand, there are those who write with such rhetoric and syntax, that few people can actually understand, much less, apply  what these "masters" are imparting.

Below is a perspective offered by Matthew Kelly in his book, "The Rhythm of Life".  I opine that Kelly truly leads the reader to an old place with a new set of eyes.   His book was a delight to read, and woke up some slumbering veins in me. 

Judge for yourself.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD obsessed with noise. People wake up to clock radios, listen to the news while they shower, watch television while they eat breakfast, tune into the morning radio show on the way to work, listen to music all day over the intercom, and talk incessantly on the phone between any number of meetings…We need to stop the noise.

For six years now I have been traveling and speaking in different parts of the world. After my talks or seminars I usually take some time to visit with the audience. They always have plenty of questions, but the question I am asked the most is, "How did you come to know so much at such a young age?"

When I was nineteen God touched my life in a profound way. It was at that time that I began to seriously pray - and when I first felt God beckoning me into the classroom of silence. Each day I would sit alone in church silently reflecting on my life, the world, Christ, and the Gospels - three, four, five, sometimes six hours a day.

It if from this experience that I believe and have written things such as, "You can learn more in an hour of silence than you can in a year from books," and, "Noise is the mouthpiece of the world. Silence is the mouthpiece of God. It is in the classroom of silence that God bestows his wisdom on men and women."

Everything great in history has arisen from silence - even great noise. Mozart and Beethoven closed themselves off from the world, inhabited silent rooms for days at a time. They did this in order to hear things that no one else could hear, things they themselves would have never heard in the midst of the world - sounds so glorious, and yet, sound that the world would never know if Mozart and Beethoven had not befriended silence.

Silence presents both sides of the Christian challenge. Firstly, silence introduces us to ourselves - our faults, failings, flaws, defects, talents, abilities, and potential. And secondly, silence introduces us to God - greatness, fidelity, and perfection. It is these two discoveries together - self and God - that propose the Christian challenge. Seeing ourselves as we are, and God as He is, we are always challenged to change, to grow, and to become more like God.

Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher, scientist, mathematician, and writer of the seventeenth century wrote, "All man's miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone."

A survey was conducted in the U.S. last year in which people were asked to name the ten things they feared the most. The most feared was death. After death - silence - closely followed by public speaking, flying , dogs, and spiders. Why do we fear silence? Why do we avoid silence? Silence introduces us to ourselves - for better and for worse. Silence convicts, suggests, challenges - yes. But silence also consoles, heals, comforts, clears the mind, and gives to the weary heart.

Peace is the fruit of silence.

Try it. I am not suggesting that you spend four, five, or six hours a day in silence. Take ten minutes a day in your church or in a quiet chair at home. Leave the radio off in the car on the way to work or have a television-free evening once a week in the home. Try it. It works.

Once I was home visiting my family and my youngest brother walked into my room late one night with I was sitting silently in my chair with my eyes closed. He said, "What are you doing, Matthew?" I tried to explain as best I could, but I think he thought I was a little strange. Twice a day, everyday, I take time to visit the classroom of silence. It is through the peace I discover in those times that I make sense of the rest of the day. It is during those times of silence that the Spirit empowers me to do my work.

I close my eyes so that I may see things that I could never see with my eyes open, things that would never come to be if I did not close my eyes. I enter the classroom of silence to listen, and there I hear things I could never hear in this noisy world - the murmuring of my heart and soul that lead me to my future.