Churches, temples, and in a more general sense the inner domains of sacred places are usually territories marked by silence.
These are typically devotional spiritual or religious spaces meant to contemplate, to rest from the demands of daily life, to turn inwards, to meditate and to pray.
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When the priest, monk, religious or spiritual leader speaks, the gathered community listens, while remaining silent to take it all in; to foster the messages given, to reflect, to receive comforting and hopeful words in order to cope with grief, anguish, and the hardness of life.
Nevertheless, sacred places are often also the domain of celebrations, festivities, sharing, and happy abundance, which by contrast are characterized by sound, music, singing, laughter, food and drinks, and sometimes even dance.
Sacred places show us a fascinating contrast between silence and sound, united in the same space; both silence and sound having a function to honor, to remember, and to unite.
Sounds and silence as a divine union, an uplifting spiritual experience dealing with our place in the world and our relationship with the higher forces beyond it.
