Excerpt from a journal entry I recently wrote for class
In this week’s selection of reading, the author describes the human need to escape from the chaos and mindless noise of everyday life and simply be silent. Without this, he says, he become “fretful, uncertain beings immersed in a cacophony of noise that destroys sanity and equilibrium.” The picture he painted of the human propensity towards incessant “busy-ness” was sad and striking. I, for one, have found that I cannot function as efficiently if I do not set aside some time during my day to simply pause and enjoy the quiet. As often as I can, I like to spend this time outside. I walk, jog, or sometimes just sit in a serene, woodsy spot and soak in the music of birds and trees. I don’t understand why many people find this to be such a challenge. The radio goes on the moment they hop in the car, and televisions provide a steady hum of white noise as they carry out daily activities around the house. The iPod has practically become a bodily appendage and the term “awkward silence” is applied to any 20 second interval of break in conversation. What has caused our society’s unusual discomfort with a mere moment of quiescence? Everybody knows how to pray–to utter a few words of thankfulness and praise or pour forth a long list of supplications. But do we ever calm our restless souls and vagrant minds enough to hear Him speak?
…and I wonder why I don’t always understand what God is asking of me. Take some time to listen to Him today.
P.S. The picture below is roughly what today looked like. Roughly.
That while solitude is all great and dandy, silence to me is a death sentence. If it is silent, something IS wrong. My sister’s cat should be scratching up something or starting a fight with my dog. The refrigerator should be humming and the clock in the bathroom down the hall should be ticking. If none of those sounds are audible when I come upstairs, I literally panic. I have very sensitive hearing and so it unlikely that I just can’t hear them.
When I got outside on a walk, even at three in the morning, I expect to hear some sounds. The rushing of the nearly flooding creek, the 3rd shift worker heading home for the day, the crunch of dry leaves under my feet, or the simple sound of trees blowing in the wind. Without these sounds, there’s something absolutely terrifying.
I agree that it is not necessary for someone to be speaking all the time, however I often find myself singing. I can hardly help it, as you might have guessed being around me for so long. I may not sing very well, but I sing nearly everywhere I go and such. I think the only time I am not singing is when someone else is talking, when I or someone else is praying, or when singing would draw unnecessary attention to myself. Oh, and I don’t sing down the trails at three in the morning. Mischief is known to happen at odd hours of the night, and I’d hate to spook some kid who thinks they’re so tough because they vandalize a tunnel wall.
Make it so, Number One,
De Facto