SILENCE
Silence is
golden, our grandmothers used to say.
And though we don't often remember it, it is true. Silence is golden!
I stand on
my skis on Holly burn Ridge where two trails cross. No one else is around. Around me the air is thick with fog, and
heavy. The mountain is socked in with
heavy cloud. Everything is not only quiet, but completely muffled, absolutely
still. Green trees fade into grey ghosts
twenty or thirty yards from where I stand.
The snow
lies on the ground and on the trees about me. Flakes that are almost rain fall softly,
silently. There is not a sound.
I stand and
listen. The silence seems so good. It feels so right. In the words of the twenty-third psalm, it
"restores my soul."
So much of
modern life is noise. The radio is
blaring. The television is on,
constantly it seems. People are always
talking. And around us, in our homes,
there is always the sound of a motor -- the refrigerator, the furnace,
someone's electric razor or hair dryer.
We don't hear them consciously, but something is usually buzzing. Always noise.
Many years
ago, far away from here, I stood on a country hillside, beside a farmhouse, in
the chill darkness of a winter's night.
A clear, still night. A night
when you could hear the stars. On the
slope the other side of the valley were the lights of distant houses and the
occasional bark of a dog. I still
remember, years later, the silence of that night, when every sound was audible.
"Be
still and know that I am God," the Bible says (Psalm 46:10).
Sometimes
it's only in the silence, in the stillness, that, listening, we can hear, and
know!
5 comments:
Alan, my most favourite scripture verse is the one you speak of here. Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God. It holds precious meaning and courage for me. Thank you for reminding me about the need for a little tranquillity and a lot of God in my life! Blessings. A lovely post.
Your post quiets me in my busy day. Thanks.
Just the calming influence I needed after a very hectic week
My daughter and I laugh when we watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and he cries, "Noise. Noise. Noise!"
Psalm 46:10 is refreshing not only at Christmas but always.
Alan, that's one of my favourite verses, too. And yet, my interest in current affairs, draws me to news and c/affairs programming. And my interest in making music draws me to making a lot of noise.
Yes, your post speaks to me. ~~+~~
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