I suspect I have written about silence about a hundred
times! It reminds me how often I have
told congregations and classes of students that I probably only have about four
major points in my outlook on life and the way I make sense of things. Certainly life is complex and my life feels
that way some of the time. But I don’t
think that necessarily means our philosophy or theology has to be complex. In fact I think simplicity is called
for.
Simplicity does not mean that the complexity
disappears. But simplicity becomes a way
to understand the complexity---even if we don’t understand all the details of
the complex. I know the universe if far
too complex for my little mind to understand.
Most of the time I assume astrophysicists, molecular biologist and
neuroscientist understand the complexity of our world far better than I
do. But I doubt that any of them could
lean back in a chair and say, “There, I know it all!”
I do know there are many, many words to describe the
complexity of our world. I think I know
a great deal of words, but when I look at a dictionary, I am humbled. Or when I talk to one of my scientist
friends, I know how little I know. Of
course, I can talk all day long. Even
someone with a limited vocabulary can talk all day long. All of my grandkids were pretty verbal when
they were young with still a relatively small vocabulary and they could talk
all day long!
We all know that talking all day long does not mean
something significant was said. The same
can be said for tv watchers. I don’t
abstain from tv. I like to watch sports,
news, specials, etc. Certainly not
everything I watch is edifying. But I
also know there is so much on the tube that I consider junk. This reminds me that I can use words and I
can listen to other people’s words and know that I am a junk dealer!
I love words, but I know there is a time and a place for
words. Sometimes the very best thing
that can be said is nothing! Maybe it is
because I am an introvert, but I have always been ok with saying nothing. Maybe it is because I am a Quaker that I am
ok with no one saying anything for a period of time. I have never thought that it is wrong to
conclude nothing is happening if there are no words being spoken. In fact, just the opposite is true for
me. I refuse to believe just because
words are being spoken, something real or important is happening. In some cases the only thing happening is
junk dealing.
This brings me to what I call the beauty of silence. I hesitated to use the word, beauty, to
describe silence. I wondered if the
word, beauty, had to refer to visual things, like paintings, sunsets and
babies? Clearly, this is the usual
context for the word, beauty. But I also
feel that limits the word. I think it is
appropriate to describe silence as beautiful.
I have been to the top of a mountain and sitting on the beach of an
ocean. I have sat with people when not
one word was being said. These times of
silence were beautiful.
Of course, it is important not to equate silence with lack
of noise. Silence is not the same as
noiselessness. At the top of a mountain,
I may be very aware of the wind even though I am deep in silence. Sitting at ocean side is usually not
noiseless, but I can hear waves and be silent.
I try to think my way into why silence is beautiful.
Silence is beautiful because it invites us into places of
profundity. So many words and
conversations are superficial. Silence
makes space opening us to the possibility of profundity. When this happens to me, my heart feels like
it grows bigger. I get the sense that
life has been touched in ways that make me feel privileged. Often I feel at these times like I have been
in the presence of God.
Silence is beautiful because it allows my soul to go
deep. Because so much of my life is lived
in the normal and routine range, there is not much depth. Many conversations and exchanges of my day
are transactional. It is like paying the
bills. It is necessary, but not
noteworthy. Our souls long to be touched
in deep places. There the Spirit of God
enlivens us. There beauty is linked to
meaning and our lives are fed by living waters of the Spirit.
Silence is beautiful because it stretches me in expansive
ways. My soul expands to touch those who
normally are beyond my frame of reference. Words can constrict; they focus. Silence expands our individual universe. It allows more light into our realm of life
and action. The expansive soul
entertains the “what if,” instead of insisting on the “no way.”
I don’t want to be void of words. I don’t want conversations to stop. Words are amazing human inventions. But give me some silence…Lord, give me
silence to live the beautiful life.
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