Yesterday I led a day-long workshop/retreat on silence at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, a perfect venue for stillness. There is a natural connection between nature and stillness and walking along the paths to the Japanese gardens, I felt deep peace.Later at the gift shop, I found Sea Beans – smooth, brown pods abot the size of a fig. They had been inscribed with inspirational sayings and I bought one for each of my children. As I read the information slip, I thought of all the women who have come together around the globe in separate but communal silence through these Sundays over the past year. Here is what I read: “Sea Beans are seeds of the Monkey Ladder vine which grows in Central and South America and Africa. It has the largest seed pod in the world. The seeds fall out of the pod onto the florest floor. They are washed into streams, then rivers, and then out to sea. Because they float, the Amazing Sea Beans travel all around the world, carried by the current. Eventually they wash up on beaches, where they are gathered by families who sell them to help support themselves. The environment is not harmed in any way by the harvesting of Sea Beans.”
I imagine our days of silence, like the sea pods, traveling around the world, creating currents that nurture and sustain us. Blessings. Anne

To my Circle of In Silence Friends,