…a call to contemplation—to quiet the mind and enter the silence beyond words, emotions, and thoughts. ~ Room, The Upper. The Upper Room Disciplines 2022: A Book of Daily Devotions (p. 591). Upper Room Books. Kindle Edition.

Silence may become an effective rhetorical practice when people choose to be silent for a specific purpose. It has not merely been recognized as a theory but also as a phenomenon with practical advantages. Rhetorical silence cannot be explained since it happens when lack of communication is not expected. When silence becomes rhetorical, it is intentional since it reflects a meaning. Rhetorical silence targets audience rather than the rhetorician. One of those advantages of silence is to achieve various types of rhetorical and literacy practices. ~ Macintosh Dictionary /System/Applications

Silence beyond words, emotions, thoughts…
Have you experienced this extreme of silence?
How can you recognize it without words,
emotions or thoughts? Can it be
the state of people so close, so connected,
so in synch, so in agreement words, emotions, and thoughts
are superfluous? Have you experienced that
with another person? What about
with your higher Power?

And the vision that was planted
in my brain Still remains
Within the sound of silence.¹

<sup>1</s>Simon & Garfunkel