This is the name of a book of prayers by Kathy Keay, but it is also the two words that came to mind after yesterday evening's TV viewing.  Scheduling in Scotland is subtley different from England and Wales, so maybe the connection only works for those living in this TV area.

Firstly I watched the programme on BBC2 about people searching for silence, The Big Silence, which happened to include a delightful Glaswegian, so there was some 'home' interest.  As someone who regularly spends many hours in a kind of silence, but who is also (normally) very busy it was interesting to watch these folk seeking space.  I was challenged by the idea of hearing the stars, though hearing a candle flame is in my experience; I'd like to hear the stars singing...

Then I watched The Apprentice on BBC1, full of noise and nonsense and people who (as portrayed) postured and in one case had the audacity to accuse Mancunians of being backwards (OK my interpretation of what he said).  There was a lot of shouting, people talking over each other and not listening, as each sought to show that they were the one to be kept.  The contrast was stark.

And yet silence and shouting need not be opposites - sometimes it is in the silence that our deepest cries find articulation and we are able to shout silently.  The trailer for coming episodes of The Big Silence hints at the way silence opens us to express our shouts as well as maybe finding stillness.

The Elijah story of God in the sound of sheer silence is overworked, but it is notable that the story also includes a lot of shouting too.

Sometimes in the wee small hours, when sleep is evasive, and the drug effects causes thirst or discomfort, I find it is good just to be still in the silence and let the unspoken shouts of my inner most being wing heavenward where they are transformed into singing.