Although I wasn’t even a teenager when Simon and Garfunkel released the single “Sounds of Silence” in 1966, it became a favorite song of mine. One of the verses describes “People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening.” Those words seem especially true now almost 50 years later in a digital age where we are bombarded with so many more means of communication from cell phones to tweets to Facebook and every other manner of social networking. Yet even though the ways we can reach out have grown exponentially, the depth of our connections often seems lacking.
We have too much noise and too little silence. Silence allows for reflection. Reflection allows for introspection. And introspection of self creates space for reaching out to others. This week an alum of Lynchburg College and local pastor of Church of the Covenant shared an excerpt from a journal entry that speaks most eloquently and articulately of the value of silence. With his permission, I share it here:
As I became quiet this morning, I had one thought, or rather, a kind of insight or glimpse. The world needs my silence at the beginning of the day. It does not need all my plans for changing the world. It does not need my bird’s nest of thoughts, which run this way, then that way, and none of which matches the truth of non-thought. And the world does not need my left over anger or resentment or feelings of compulsiveness or guilt or whatever it is that may be driving me any given morning. The world needs for me to sit in silence, breathing, and simply opening to everything around me. And everything around me says, “Peace. Harmony. Holiness. Sufficiency.” In these moments I know that it is the human world, with all its neuroses and grandiosity, its mindless cruelty and ego-centered living that has invaded my mind, my spirit, my soul. I have become distorted, and so also my looking at the world. The only antidote is silence. Then, out of the silence I might be able to do some good, or at least, not add to the harm. (Rev. David Edwards ‘70)
This week I invite each one of us to be intentional in creating space in our busy lives for moments of silence, no matter how brief. May we detach, disconnect, unplug, and do whatever else it takes to allow the mystical power of silence to touch us and to transform us. May we join David Edwards and others in the hope that cultivating our inner silence may produce the fruit of outer goodness.
Peace,
Anne