Craving Silence

I backed out of the driveway long before the sun came out to make my commute to the office. Multiple thoughts were spinning in my head about all I needed to get done. In the background the radio played. Chatty disc jockeys laughed and joked. Then they played a song along with more laughter and joking afterwards. It began to irritate me.

Then I decided to push the button to turn the radio off. Really I just wanted to turn the noise off. As soon as the sound ceased I immediately felt relaxed and peaceful. It was like my soul craved the silence. All I could hear was the rolling of my tires on the pavement and the sound of oncoming traffic from time to time. I relished the quiet for the rest of the drive.

Our society does not value silence. People always have headphones, earbuds, or music playing. Around the house the television is usually on or youngsters are busy playing video games or watching a video on their phones. The noise never ends. Depending on where you live you may still be able to hear traffic, sirens, and trains all night long.

So many voices. So many distractions. So many competing for our attention. I know people who sleep with the television on or with music playing in the background. When do people ever stop the noise.

Why is this important? Two reasons. First, it is in the silence we train ourselves to meet with and hear from God. His still small voice can get drowned out by all the other noise that clutters our mind. When is the last time you spent 30 minutes to an hour surrounded in silence during waking hours? I'm betting for some it has been awhile.

The music blares louder and louder. The volume on the television gets turned up in surround sound for a better entertainment experience. Yet the still small voice of God goes unnoticed by the masses. We must train ourselves to get comfortable in silence.

A second benefit to silence is it gives you time to think. To put that another way it gives you time to ponder and meditate. So many look frazzled always in a hurry, stressed and at their wits end. If such people took time to slow down and enjoy the silence and just do a little praying and a little thinking it might relieve some of that stress.

I have a back porch. I have not sat back there in months, mainly because of blistering 100 plus degree summer days. Many times I have gone back on that porch with a glass of tea or water and at times a book. Sometimes I've gone back there to just sit in silence. I watch the birds, hear their chirps, see the squirrels scurrying about. On a few occasions I have actually seen dear grazing on the fairway behind our home.

When I turned that radio off in the car I did not realize that my soul was craving silence. Thinking back over the weekend we were busy. Sundays are always a full day. So was Friday night as football seasons kicks off and we stayed busy on Saturday. I needed some time to pray, think and rest.

Now I realize for some there can be too much silence. No other human interaction. Complete isolation. That can be unhealthy and this post is not to make lite of that. That is another topic for another day.

This is just a simple reminder that for busy, stressed, hurried, harassed, helpless and hopeless people God often meets us in silence and solitude. I hope you will carve out some time for both in your days.