"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything.”*
James Crews quoting the acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, "who has spent his life listening to and recording the world’s natural soundscapes."
James Crews quoting the acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, "who has spent his life listening to and recording the world’s natural soundscapes."
For the past couple of weeks, my faith community and I have been exploring some of the ancient names of God. I am, of course, hindered as always by my lack of knowledge of biblical Hebrew, but fortunately there are others in the world who have shared some of their knowledge. El Shaddai is currently one of my favorite names. It feels so alive and is such a joy to say. It makes me yearn to view God's realm from a mountaintop, stretch out my arms, and speak the name as loudly as I can, from the tip of my toes to the end of my fingers and beyond. In other words, an embrace. And then I would bow and even maybe even kneel. Then I just might dance.
However, this morning while I am still in my pajamas, I read James Crews' newsletter for this month, and in it he mentions Gordon Hempton. Years ago I watched a documentary about Hempton and his quest of recording the sounds of nature around the world. Even then he said that it was becoming difficult to find places untouched by the sound of human activity. I found the film beautiful, and I shall try to seek out some of his work again. This morning I read that at one point Mr. Hempton lost much of his hearing and the doctors said nothing could be done. According to what I read, he simply sat with the silence, and eventually (I do not know how long) his hearing returned. There is indeed healing to be found in silence.
This morning as I sat in silence, I heard a bird begin to sing. I was stunned into that silence when I read that a group of billionaires just awarded our president with a trophy inscribed with "the undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”* After spending a couple of weeks weeping as I watched the Buddhist Monks' Walk for Peace unfold on Facebook, the contrast seemed tacky and almost laughable if it wasn't so sad and awful. Unfortunately, these billionaires, with their puppet president in tow, are determined to bring back coal production, and that is certainly far from humourous. I am reminded of Hayao Miyazaki's beautifully animated film, "Princess Mononoke" which I also have not seen in years. In the film, nature and humans struggle with the difficulties of trying to live next to "Iron Town". Like all of Miyazaki's work, it is well worth watching again, and fortunately, I think it is still available on Netflix.
The Presence of Everything is a fine name for God. As I rummaged through the internet, I came across part of a transcript by Krista Tippet of the On Being Project: " He [Gordon Hempton] defines real quiet as presence — not an absence of sound, but an absence of noise. The Earth as Gordon Hempton knows it is a 'solar-powered jukebox.'”* "On Being" is still in existence, and I have just subscribed.
Friends if you can, please step outside sometime today, breathe deeply, and give thanks for our glorious earth that should not be treated as a toxic production site for the ultra-wealthy. You have just seen a glance as to how I plan on spending the next few years. I will continue to write, and will, to the best of my ability, continue to look around and be a voice for this sacred planet. Our earth is more than a jukebox. Let us come together and share the threads we are following. We are being woven into a garment that is stronger than we know.
*"Letter from an American", Heather Cox Richardson, February 12, 2026
Image was taken from the Garchen Buddhist Institute, outside of Chino Valley, AZ a few years ago. I believe this is a view of the Santa Maria Mountains.
