The Sounds of Silence 

   We live in a world where silence is hard to find.  No matter where we go or what we do, something or someone is making noise.  It is a loss that I believe is damaging both our physical and our spiritual lives.  We no longer hear the voices of silence.

   In the silence of the early morning when I go for a walk I hear the birds waking up, their morning song as the new day begins.  It’s as if they are saying, “Good morning God, thanks for the new day.”  Yet, even in the silence of a morning walk many carry their noise with them, music playing in the earbuds in their ears.  They never hear nature greeting the new day.

   New parents often sit in silence, just listening to the quiet sounds of their newborn son or daughter.  The cooing and the laughter, the sounds of a happy baby that they love to hear.  They delight in the smile and the joyful greeting of their child when they first see Mom and Dad as they are waking up.  Many miss these precious moments allowing worldly concerns to interfere, rather than rejoicing in the new life they have brought into the world.

   In the silence I hear God and feel His presence more clearly.  Rumi, a Sufi mystic and poet wrote,  “Silence is the language of God, all else is a poor translation.”  It is in the quiet that God speaks to us, the noise of our world far too often drowns out His voice robbing us of His wisdom and His will.

   When Elijah sought the Lord on Mount Horeb He found Him not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire.  He found Him in the sound of a gentle breeze. (1 Kings 19: 11 – 13)  If you want to hear God, go to the mountain, find the silence and listen for the gentle breeze that is the voice of God.