Silence: Golden, but Rare
There once was a time - and it can be recaptured at any time - when silence was golden. Man understood that there was a great value in quiet contemplation, meditation, stillness ... some religious orders even took vows of silence, so well did the understand the power of the Quiet when it comes to prayer.
I am relearning this lesson, ever-so slowly. For the past three days, I have had the utterly joyous privilege of taking 45 minutes alone, by myself, to pray the Rosary in silence. I'm wondering why I didn't insist on this much earlier.
It's been refreshing, every single time. I can shut out the world for a while and touch the face of God, see the saints I've come to love, meditate upon the mysteries of Salvation.
At last it dawns on me ... society as a whole is drifting further and further from sanctity, partly because there is not a silent moment to be found. Anywhere.
Look at your average day.
It begins with the jarring noise of your alarm clock. It continues as you climb into your car and drive to work, with the radio on. Depending on the kind of job you have, you deal with more or less noise for another 8 solid hours; the elevators play muzak; customer-service jobs keep you talking and listening; if you work in retail, no doubt the store plays a constant stream of in-house music; even in my line of work, with computers, there are noises at every turn: alerts, beeps, ringing phones, cube-to-cube conversation, new mail sounds - perhaps you even plug in your headphones and continue to fill your head with music.
On the drive home, there is more radio noise. When you get home, the TV goes on, or you go out to watch a movie and have dinner at an establishment which, of course, pipes in non-stop music to eat by.
Of course, you carry a cell-phone, so there is no end to the interruptions of ringing and conversation. Machines hum, jack-hammers pound, trains roar, engines rumble, and somewhere in the distance a car drives by with the radio so loud the trunk is vibrating.
What is this? Are we afraid of silence? Yes. Because in the silence, you have nothing but your thoughts. You have to face yourself. You get that sense of Something Bigger out there, and you know you have to confront Him - because in the silence is the only place you will hear that still, small voice, calling you.
But since hearing that voice means acknowledging that voice, and acknowledging that voice opens up a whole can of worms, we'd rather just drown out the voice.
Bring on the noise.
Here's an idea: try to go without the radio in the car for seven days. The first time I did that, the silence was deafening. I didn't know what to do. I actually (gasp!) started praying on the way to work and back.
Another radical idea: sometime this week, lock yourself in a room with no radio or TV, and listen to the silence for 30 minutes. That's all. Just 30 minutes.
See if something valuable doesn't come out of that experience.
I am relearning this lesson, ever-so slowly. For the past three days, I have had the utterly joyous privilege of taking 45 minutes alone, by myself, to pray the Rosary in silence. I'm wondering why I didn't insist on this much earlier.
It's been refreshing, every single time. I can shut out the world for a while and touch the face of God, see the saints I've come to love, meditate upon the mysteries of Salvation.
At last it dawns on me ... society as a whole is drifting further and further from sanctity, partly because there is not a silent moment to be found. Anywhere.
Look at your average day.
It begins with the jarring noise of your alarm clock. It continues as you climb into your car and drive to work, with the radio on. Depending on the kind of job you have, you deal with more or less noise for another 8 solid hours; the elevators play muzak; customer-service jobs keep you talking and listening; if you work in retail, no doubt the store plays a constant stream of in-house music; even in my line of work, with computers, there are noises at every turn: alerts, beeps, ringing phones, cube-to-cube conversation, new mail sounds - perhaps you even plug in your headphones and continue to fill your head with music.
On the drive home, there is more radio noise. When you get home, the TV goes on, or you go out to watch a movie and have dinner at an establishment which, of course, pipes in non-stop music to eat by.
Of course, you carry a cell-phone, so there is no end to the interruptions of ringing and conversation. Machines hum, jack-hammers pound, trains roar, engines rumble, and somewhere in the distance a car drives by with the radio so loud the trunk is vibrating.
What is this? Are we afraid of silence? Yes. Because in the silence, you have nothing but your thoughts. You have to face yourself. You get that sense of Something Bigger out there, and you know you have to confront Him - because in the silence is the only place you will hear that still, small voice, calling you.
But since hearing that voice means acknowledging that voice, and acknowledging that voice opens up a whole can of worms, we'd rather just drown out the voice.
Bring on the noise.
Here's an idea: try to go without the radio in the car for seven days. The first time I did that, the silence was deafening. I didn't know what to do. I actually (gasp!) started praying on the way to work and back.
Another radical idea: sometime this week, lock yourself in a room with no radio or TV, and listen to the silence for 30 minutes. That's all. Just 30 minutes.
See if something valuable doesn't come out of that experience.
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