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My next
record should be 45 minutes of silence,” said singer Meg Hutchinson, “because
that’s what we’re missing most in society.”
Silence
is indeed hard to find. Cities are notoriously noisy due to the high
concentration of traffic and people. There seems to be no escape from loud music,
loud machines, and loud voices. But the kind of noise that endangers our
spiritual well-being is not the noise we can’t escape but the noise we invite
into our lives. Some of us use noise as a way of shutting out loneliness:
voices of TV and radio personalities give us the illusion of companionship.
Some of us use it as a way of shutting out our own thoughts: other voices and
opinions keep us from having to think for ourselves. Some of us use noise as a
way of shutting out the voice of God: constant chatter, even when we’re talking
about God, keeps us from hearing what God has to say.
But
Jesus, even during His busiest times, made a point of seeking out places of
solitude where He could carry on a conversation with God (Mark 1:35). Even
if we can’t find a place that is perfectly quiet, we need to find a place to
quiet our souls (Ps. 131:2), a
place where God has our full attention.
Don’t let
the noise of the world
keep you from hearing the voice of the God. (RBC)
keep you from hearing the voice of the God. (RBC)