God is present, and His thought is alive and awake in the fullness and depth and breadth of all the silences of the world, The Lord is watching in the almond trees, over the fulfillment of His words (Jeremias I:II). Whether the plane pass by tonight or tomorrow, whether there be cars on the winding road or no cars, whether men speak in the field, whether there be a radio in the house or not, the tree brings forth her blossoms in silence. Whether the house be empty or full of children, whether the men go off to town or work with tractors in the fields, whether the liner enters the harbor full of tourists or full of soldiers, the almond tree brings forth her fruit in silence.
-Thomas Merton, No Man is a Island, Ch.16 Sec.6