For many of us, the television or music player is always on at home and our mobile phone is glued to our ear when we go out.

Add to that the constant noise of machinery and traffic - and meetings galore. This is part of normal life and we accept it.

We may sometimes walk into the countryside and marvel at the peace of it - and feel uplifted.

Having time to be silent is important. It is a time for reflection, meditation, self-awareness, awareness of the spiritual, prayer.

It is a time to listen to our body rhythms, our conscience, and that guiding hand that challenges what we say and do, and how we treat those around us.

For those with a faith, these challenges come from God, but you do not have to believe in God to experience that guiding hand.

Maybe you fear silence, you dislike the empty space you see silence to be. Silence is not an empty space. It is a space to fill with self-awareness and reflection on what that guiding hand is leading us to. It is communion with the spirit and sensing directly the leadings of that spirit.

Possibly because we do not like what our conscience tells us in the silence, we fear it, but we must not drown these leadings in noise because we do not want to know what is right.

‘Take heed, dear Friends, of the promptings of love and truth in your heart’ (Quaker Advices and Queries). ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46 v10).