Listening to the Silence

Officially it’s called the Bryniau Glo Walk. I call it the Hidden Valley Walk.

You climb up a long way on a well-defined trail, through a forest, over the hills and into a hidden valley. It’s protected on three sides by higher hills, with a view out to the rest of Snowdonia.

I guess it’s because of that protection that it’s so silent.

I stopped in the valley and listened. Nothing. No bird song. No wind. Just silence. The most perfect silence.

For a moment in time, I was part of that silence. Transfixed by it. Such a perfect moment. Listening and hearing nothing. Looking out onto such stillness and beauty. Worshipping.

Silence is not always welcomed. One of my favourite songs is The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel (check out the version by Disturbed – amazing!) But the lyrics are slightly depressive: ‘Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping.’

Too often we shut out silence. We surround ourselves with noise and activity. The TV drones in the background even if we are not watching it. Music plays through our headphones as we travel. The car radio is on. The mobile has its own playlist.

But what if for a moment we stopped and listened? Listened to the silence. Relaxed for a moment, with our breathing as the only sound. And maybe pray a prayer - thanking God for a moment of complete silence; for a moment of complete peace in a noisy world.