Skip to main content

31 Days: Silence


It is a little ironic that I forgot to do my 31 Days post when the word was "silence." I'd like to say that it was symbolic, that I chose to be silent on day 5 but it was not premeditated. But maybe it was subconscious.

I hate silence. The minute I walk into my house, I turn the tv on so that there is noise. When I am at work, I have headphones on to listen to music to avoid the silence of my office. I am a nervous talker, filling any silences with a barrage of trivia to keep the uncomfortable quiet at bay.

I often complain that I can not hear God. I have joked that I need a burning bush to let me know what I should do. I need something obvious, like a slap against the back of my head, NCIS' Gibbs style, to get my attention.

But what if my aversion to silence is what's keeping me from hearing God? What if I'm drowning him out with the tv chatter, music blaring in my ears, and jabbering blaring in others' ears. What if I could comfortable with the quiet. Could I hear God then?

They say silence is golden. I'm not sure what that means but what if the wisdom I gain from the silence is worth as much as gold. Wouldn't the change I seek in my life be better if it was because I was pursuing God's will for my life?

Until I get my burning bush or slap against the back of my head, I guess I will learn to love silence and hope that it brings me wisdom I am looking for.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Minute Friday: Roots

Lisa-Jo Baker (lisajobaker.com) hosts a weekly event on her blog called "Five Minute Friday". The rules are 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.. So here's my first try at this. Today's topic was Roots. Roots – I think about my grandparents who lived on a farm until my grandfather’s diabetes worsened and they moved to a town with a hospital nearby. My father still says he wished he could have kept that farm. I think of my grandmother who was a widow for 20 years. Every year she would stand over my PaPa’s grave, wishing she was with him. I think of my parents, a product of those grandparents, how hard my father worked to put 2 girls through...

Five Minute Friday: Expect

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at  http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Expect.   I'm going to admit something. When I pray, I expect God to do what I ask. I'd like to think that is a sign of faith but in some ways, it is a sign of arrogance, like I know what is best for me. I picture him up in heaven like the above photo, signalling to the angels and saying like a benevolent Captain Picard, "Make it so." I never stop to think about what's right or worse, what's God's will, I just ask away and expect to be granted my wish. I guess that means I see God as more of a fairy godmother than my heavenly father. It doesn't matter if it is little things like, "Please make the bathtub faucet quit leaking" or "Please make my aunt well." I expect my prayer to be answered. And for things like "Please send...

Five Minute Friday: Time

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Time. Sometimes time feels like this, like we are in it. Standing inside it, watching life pass by. It is so easy to get stuck in a time - in our pain, in our hurt. We hear the ache tick away in our head like a giant clock. Time, instead, is a gift. More time with family, more time to accomplish goals, more time to see the world. When you are hurting, it seems like time takes forever. One day turns into another day, turns into another day. When we hate a job, the five days of time that make up a work week seem to go on forever. But those five days are also a gift. Because these days, a job is not a guarantee. I want to see time as gift, not as a chore. I want to be on the other side of it, wishing there was more of it. Making the most of every hour, minute, and second instead of...