Be Still and Know...Part 1

Our neighborhood has half a dozen dogs that take turns yapping at, well, whatever dogs yap at. They seem to like hearing themselves, and each other. They don't seem to have much appreciation
for quiet or silence. And neither do we humans, in many cases. But silence, for the right reasons, is a gift and a helpful habit, giving us many valuable insights. Here are a few, with more to come next time.

Silence includes ignoring, or turning off, the noise-makers around us, but real silence is more than that. The hardest thing to turn off is our own mind. When we stop talking and turn off exterior noises, we begin the process of realizing we're still thinking. We think about the latest piece of news we read, or a song on the radio, or something someone else said that irritated us. We have a conversation (or argument) in our heads about something important (or not!). We wonder what's for dinner or whether we'll be able to pay for something we'd like to own, or whether we'll have weather today. None of that is silence.

To be silent is to put all those thoughts to rest and to simply be quiet with God. Why is that so important? Because we can't hear him when we're yapping all the time, like those dogs. We can't meditate on scripture or understand the Lord's presence when we are busy wondering whether the postman has come.

To be clear, this kind of silence (or its partner, meditation) is not about "emptying your mind" as some teach. It is about slowing down the 'runaway train' of our thoughts so we can begin to focus on God and feel his presence, nearness, and love. When we sit quietly before God, he is able to reach us in ways we otherwise will never notice. When we do, we will realize he has always been there, always near, and has always been communicating with us. Then we can begin to understand what he has been saying all this time.

And wouldn't that be worth learning to be quiet?  We'll learn some more of the fruits of silence next time.