The Sounds of Silence

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 

The info below caught my attention:

Fifty-three hours . . . by anyone’s standards, that’s a long, hard workweek. So are you sitting down? Fifty-three hours is the amount of time each week that the average American spends on some form of electronic entertainment.

Think about it: TV. Video games. Music. Movies online. All kinds of social media. Many young people carry smart phones in their pockets. They stay constantly connected to entertainment and to each other.

Connection is good, but our lives also need quiet space: periods when we unplug machines and plug ourselves into solitude. In order to learn from the wisdom around us, we all need times of silence . . . in the high calling of our daily work.

Most of you have heard me refer to my ‘cocoon’ time when I disconnect from the noise of the world. For me, this disconnect time is vital to my inner balance and, yes, on some days, my sanity. I acknowledge this need for ‘down time, quiet, silence, space’…call it what you like, I require this, and I protect it. It is one of my ‘non-negotiables’ in how I spend my time. Let’s face it, if we do not structure our own time and energy, others and situations will line up to dictate it to us and drain us of every ounce.

Jesus knew the demands on His time and energy were relentless and stepped away from the crowds to have time alone with His Father. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. He sought solitude to renew, restore and refresh alone in prayer.

Some people have a lot of trouble being alone. Some really cannot stand a period of silence and must have something, anything making noise in the background if nothing else. For these folks, the sounds of silence scream loudly. For others it is almost painful not to be in constant contact with friends and family. I love my family and friends, too, but I do not feel the need to talk to each of them several times a day…every day. Doesn’t mean I love them less. We all know at least one someone that has to talk all the time to fill the void they find in solitude and/or silence. Thus the market for ‘TV. Video games. Music. Movies online. All kinds of social media. Many young people carry smart phones in their pockets. They stay constantly connected to entertainment and to each other.’

I know I’m not the most objective person on this subject because I need and enjoy my time of silence and solitude but I have to wonder what it is people are missing in their lives when they seem compelled to fill every moment and action with voices, sound effects and mental distractions.

We start off by thinking our babies won’t grow up to the brightest in pre-school if we do not ‘stimulate’ their little brains with flashing lights and bright colors. We have programmed several generations of people to think they have to be entertained all the time, so we manufacture expensive gadgets to entertain them. These gadgets are almost obsolete by the time we buy them and the latest and greatest is in the sidelines just waiting for people to line up in front of stores to be the first of their peers to own it. Now we can take the world everywhere we go and never have one moment of disconnect unless we lose a signal, at which point we go momentarily insane until we are connected again.

When was the last time you heard someone saying they couldn’t stand it because it had been thirty minutes since they could ‘connect’ with God? Where were you when people lined up and camped out to praise Jesus? How long has it been since you unplugged and turned off everything electronic just to have some peaceful alone time listening for the Holy Spirit? Are we drowning out the soft, still voice of God by all the noise?