Silence Is Golden

by Glenn Queener

My high school chemistry teacher, Doc McCall, was a funny guy. He would constantly make noise. Even in the middle of the class taking a test, he would burst out in song, "Silence is Golden!" He would be just off-pitch enough to make us all laugh. Trust me when I say he was loud. But, in those moments, he taught us an important lesson: in your life, you will be surrounded by noise...don't let it distract you. 

My day is still filled with noise and lots of it! My TV is loud, my music is loud, my work is noisy, and if you ask Hope, I'm loud. I mean, I make more noise than any one person should. But I do it for one reason...to temper the LOUD ringing. The ringing is associated with an affliction that can drive one completely insane: tinnitus. 

Tinnitus is a ringing in the ear, which (usually) no one else can hear. Sometimes it is intermittent, but if you are lucky like me, it is constant. Not only is it loud and persistent, but the ringing is also three separate tones that produce a discordant sound all day and night long. 

Because of all of this, I struggle for silence. I wrestle with ringing and noise all day, just longing for a moment of true silence. Those oases of silence can happen, but not without a lot of focus and effort. I mean, I really have to push through the noise of my daily routine to hear absolutely nothing. 

I would hazard a guess that most people reading this can understand and relate to that struggle. I think all of us in this day and age have to push through the noise of our lives to enjoy a minute or two of quiet. 

In 1 Kings chapter 19, we read of Elijah fleeing Jezebel and hiding in a cave and hearing from God. God asks Elijah what he is doing in the cave, and Elijah gives his CV, listing all the deeds he has done for God. Then God tells him to go outside. First, Elijah experiences a "great and strong" wind; God wasn't in the wind. Then an earthquake, but God wasn't in the earthquake. Fire came next, but God wasn't in the fire. Finally, after the chaos of a windstorm, earthquake, and fire, he hears that "still, small voice" we read about in verses 12 and 13. 

I've read that Jewish scholars say a better translation of the phrase "still, small voice" is "through the thin silence." I love that phrase.

I love it because it reminds me that sometimes I need to stop what I'm doing. Even when I am at my busiest, doing things "for God" or "for the church," I need to sometimes stop what I'm doing and push through the noise of my "work" and find the silence, then press a little more to hear the "voice" of God.

This is a learned skill. And I don't always get it right, but nevertheless, I keep trying. 

 Doc McCall was right; silence is golden. Silence is golden because just on the other side of that silence is the voice of God calling out for us.

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Collect for Peace, BCP 258