Day 6, "The day I giggled"

Today was my first full day of silence, it was great. I almost slept through church though, luckily I heard my neighbor getting ready to leave ten minutes before it began. The morning bible introduction is much better than the one I had been in while still talking. It's a brother reading through maybe five or six verses and talking about them. We're looking at John and his presentation of the Holy Spirit. Today the brother talked about keeping Jesus' commandments, keeping his word, as being creative and not necessarily following a set strict of words.
After lunch I walked out to the train tracks. It was maybe twenty to twenty-five minutes each way. On the way out I only saw one car after I left the road at the bottom of Taize. At times it was like I was the only person alive. The area is so beautiful. Tomorrow I may try walking in another direction.
After I got back I read a good chunk of Dean Markham's book. It's pretty good so far, easy to follow and he puts everything down pretty clearly.
One of the things I have liked about the silence is the clarity it has brought in recognizing the beauty of God's creation and my place in it. Walking along the little road I was giggling at how amazing the world is and how awesome it is that I am going to spend my life working with God's people at recognizing the joy of God's creation.
If I come next year I think it might be good to do a whole week in silence. THere is so much to do here when you're being silent and two days is not enough. Plus it would give me a great opportunity to get my head on straight before being ordained (God willing, the people consenting & the creek don't rise). At the same time that'd be a week of missing out on the community. Both the Taize international community as well as the pilgrims from RI. I have a year to think about it though and it's not even certain I'll be here next year.