A Magic Moment in a Special Place

This week I was fortunate enough to find myself in Worcester Cathedral. It is a beautiful building - hugely historic, sweepingly majestic and magically calm. It is one of those buildings I appreciate for all those features. It is one of those buildings I could happily spend hour upon hour in - especially as there was also the most perfect little tea shop attached! 

I love visiting cathedrals. It saddens me that sometimes there is a formal charge to enter these beautiful buildings. I know they require a lot of funding in order for their fabric to be maintained, but to make a formal charge and to issue a ticket? To me, it goes against the idea that church buildings should be open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay, because everyone needs somewhere safe and peaceful in order to reflect sometimes and if that place can't be a cathedral...well, I think it is a little sad, that's all. 

Worcester Cathedral, though, merely has a donation box sited by the exit. This is fine, I think. No pressure. No demand. Donation happily made. 

And during the visit I found myself in the chapel in the crypt. It is the oldest part of the original cathedral building, dating back some 900 years. Cool, silent, a place where time holds its breathe in order to  listen fully to the thoughts, worries, thanks and prayers of all those who are called to pause a while within its soft - to -touch stone walls. And the silence is neither threatening nor uncomfortable. I sat there, physically alone, yet surrounded by the energies left by thousands of pilgrims who have visited this place during the hundreds of years of its existence. I sat on a small, wooden bench to one side of the main reflection area, and let the stillness of the place settle on me like a familiar blanket. I let my thoughts just be... And I left that place feeling strong and blessed and with a renewed sense of purpose for my life's direction.

I wasn't expecting this. I was just making the most of an opportunity to sit away from the bustle and noise of 21st century living. Even when you live in the countryside and think you have the benefit of peace and quiet, there is still the sound of birdsong, gentle breezes, rustling leaves, sheep and insects.

But here, there was, actually, nothing. No sound. The most complete silence I have ever, well, heard! 

Emerging into the main body of the cathedral, echoing with the quiet voices and footsteps of respectful visitors, I was greeted by a volunteer guide. 

'So quiet down there, isn't it?' she said. 'When school parties come in, we take the children down there in small groups so they can experience the sense of complete silence.' And she sighed. 'It's a precious experience these days.'

Is she right? I think so. Sometimes we think we have silence, but we don't, not really. And on those rare occasions when we do experience it, like in that chapel in the crypt below the surface of the earth, complete silence can be a hard thing to bear, so used are we to having 'background' noise. And much as I love 'peace and quiet' when I am sometimes home alone, I find myself putting on the radio, just to hear another sound.

Sometimes there is comfort in noise. It can stop us thinking about things we do not wish to confront. 

And yet I think we mustn't forget that there is comfort in silence, too. In silence, we allow ourselves to hear 'us' in the clearest of ways. And when that happens we suddenly find ourselves supplied with surprising new thoughts - revelations or epiphanies even. Thoughts that have probably been in our heads and hearts for a while, but it has been too noisy for us to truly hear them. 

Thank you to those who linked in to Home to Heart this Monday just passed. My hope for you, this coming week, is that you, too, find yourself in a truly silent place and experience your own 'magic moment!'