Silence of the lakeCOFFEE WITH WARREN, with Warren Harbeck |
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Angela Kaquitts had driven by Lac des Arcs many times over the years, but had never stopped. This time there was an urgency to do so and embrace the silence. Last August one of our Morley readers had an experience that spoke to one of the greatest joys in life: Silence. She took a photo of that moment to help us journey with her for a few minutes. Angela Kaquitts, a Stoney Nakoda community leader with an artist’s eye and a listening heart, was driving along the Trans-Canada Highway between Morley and Canmore. As she approached Lac des Arcs, there was something about its waters that especially caught her attention. “I had passed this lake so many times over the years, but had never stopped,” she says. But this time “there was an urgency to do so. I sat there with my sister for a while in the silence. I am always in awe of God’s glorious gift of Nature and all that comes with it, whether it’s the sound of birds singing, the blowing of the wind, the falling of rain – or just the complete silence.” This moment by the lake was definitely about silence – barely a ripple in its mirrored image of the trees and mountains beyond. It was just what Angela needed amidst the noisy, hectic activities of everyday life. “Every sound seemed to just go quiet as I stared across the lake. The silence calmed my restless soul,” she says, and she embraced it. Yes, I think we all can identify with Angela. In fact, as I’ve spoken of her joy of silence with several of our other coffee companions, they’ve gotten back to me with their own encounters with silence and the spiritual whispers they’ve heard in the stillness. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of their responses. Please, feel free to share with us some of your own reflections on silence, too. © 2021 Warren Harbeck |