Silence

Now, as a counterpoint to my last post, is a word on silence. From Doug Groothius:

Incivility abounds unabated in postmodern America. Having gone to our public library to grade some of my mountain of papers on an uncluttered desk, I was greeted by a noisy group who just got out of a meeting in a small room. They opened the door, talked loudly for some time, then even talked loudly outside the room on the way out. I used the once universal "Shhhhhhh!"--but to no avail. They may have never heard me. Pointless banter prevailed.

Americans simply cannot shut up in public, even in libraries. They abominate silence and have no respect for it. The concept of a public library, a place for reading to be done in quietude, is beyond (or beneath) them.

Now for something constructive--a shock to some of you, I know. Insert silence into your life. If you teach or preach, take a few moments of silence at the beginning, middle, or end of your presentation. Do not fear it; listen for it; listen to it; listen in it. Spend time reading, thinking, and praying with no sound track, no visual wallpaper, no unnecessary noise. When someone pauses to find the right word in a conversation, let them find it; do not insert your own word to break up the their contemplative search.

The Book of Revelation rather inexplicably says that at one point in John the Revelators vision, "There was silence in heaven for about a half an hour." That is part of what makes it heaven. Why not try to bring some of it to earth?

This is a good and timely word. Now, I am off to turn off my iTunes version of Mark Knopfler and Emmy Lou Harris!