What happens in Silence

I did not grow up in Friends meetings. I came to Friends from a traditional evangelical Protestant church. It is an uneasy feeling when a person unfamiliar with a practice is immersed into a new practice, like silent worship. Quakers have a strong tendency to avoid proscribing methods to a practice; in hindsight, the hope (I think) is a new Friends will find their way on their own. Of course, the newly convinced is not on his or her own. The Holy Spirit is attending to that person, maybe like an excited parent watching a six-year old riding a bike without training wheels for the first time. Years later, after having become comfortably familiar with connecting with God in silence, I read Punshon's book, "Encounter with Silence". I could only smile as Punshon described his experiences and memories of his initiation into silent worship. The things Punshon went through, I went through.
Why do I find silence nourishing? I think it is because of the image I hold in my mind and heart when I connect with God in silence. I am a parent, as is God. As a parent, I miss the days when I could hold my son (who is now too big) in my arms and have him be still and quiet and just let me hold him. I believe that God longs for something similar with me. God longs for me to quit my busy-ness and chatter and to allow God just to hold me in stillness. So much of worship is what can we do in noise and activity to praise God; in silence, we are quitting our efforts and opening our "selves" to tender closeness with God on God's terms.