'Today we are bombarded by so much noise - the blare of loudspeakers in our shopping malls, the roar of motorbikes, the screeching of cars, on our highways, the banging of doors, a veritable cacophony of noise, all a mad turbulent rush. But sometimes we have the joy of silence - when we have been quiet and discovered how it all helped us to be creative, to think deeply. Two people in love often discover they have communicated wordlessly and deeply as they sat quietly and their spirits have embraced and kissed in the pregnant silence. 'Maggie writes out of a long and deep experience of silence. She is a sure guide, authoritative and scholarly - her bibliography is formidable. What a splendid gift to God's children everywhere.' Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town. 'Maggie Ross brings an extraordinary combination of practicality, scholarship and prayerful reflection to this remarkable book. Readers cannot fail to profit fromits many explorations, which lead to a passionate, iconoclastic and cheering affirmation of the centrality of silence in our meetings with God.' Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford.