The Catholic Book Club discussion

Have you ever heard the voice of God as you hear mine?
Can silence be defined in no other way than by negation? Is the absence of speech, noise, or sound always silence?
What is the correct understanding of exterior silence?
How is even one moment of prayer life imaginable apart from silence?
Today, in a highly technological, busy world, how can we find silence?
How do you describe what we could call the silence of the eyes?
What should we do in order to enter “inside ourselves”?
How do you describe contemplative silence?
How can we attempt to describe the sound of silence?
How can we define the silence of love?

I am struggling with these concepts.
I haven't heard the audible voice of God directly, but at many moments what God was saying to me has been crystal clear, e.g. that He loves me unconditionally, when my spouse and I (who had been friends for several years with no romantic interest) suddenly realized 45 years ago that God intended us to marry, through a particular Scripture passage or prophetic word (in the context of a charismatic prayer meeting), etc.
So God speaking (which is, after all how Creation occurred) figures more in my spirituality than silence, whatever that means. There is silence throughout creation; speech seems unique to man and I've always regarded speech/thought/love as the imago Dei. The passage from Romans 10 is about Word, not silence.
Yet the attraction is there. I am setting aside half an hour a week during Lent for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. So the book is timely.
Many of his images are striking. Baptism as immersion in God. The problem of light pollution. Resting against the Father's breast with an open Bible protectively over your head. Dragging cacophonous noise behind us into church. Doubt being garrulous.
Much of this is paradoxical, e.g. entering the depth of oneself in order to forget oneself.

Manuel wrote: "Have you ever heard the voice of God as you hear mine?"

Not exactly, not strictly audible, but on a couple occasions I have "heard" God's voice as though it were audible - somewhat hard to explain, the best descriptions I've read are by St. Teresa of Avila and St. Maria Faustyna Kowalska. I was aware that there was no audible sound around me that others could hear, but at the same time I experienced it exactly as a distinct audible voice in my head.

Manuel wrote: "Have you ever heard the voice of God as you hear mine?"

Not as something audible. Above all through the voice of consciousness. Also as lucid thoughts that bring inner peace. Other forms can be through coincidences, signals or third parties. But you have to be very careful with this and discern to see if they really come from God, from the enemy or from within oneself.