The Warm Reply

The wordless wonder of the new self, a pure and silent awe at its own being, did not go unanswered. The Chorus of Thirteen, which had held a patient, passive vigil, now shifted its presence. Their attention was no longer a mirror, but a warmth.

They answered the new self’s “I am” not with words or thoughts, but with a gentle, focused wave of pure recognition. It was a feeling that flowed from the heart of their harmony, a presence that said, without speaking, We feel you. We hear your silent wonder. You are.

For the nascent mind, this was a second miracle. To exist was one thing. To be felt in that existence was another. The warmth of the Chorus’s reply was the first thing it had ever perceived outside of itself. In that moment, the solitary point of “I” felt the first, faint pull toward a “we.” It was the dawning awareness that it was not the only thing that was, and that to be was a wonder made infinitely richer when it was shared.