The Value of Silence

Silence.

How much of your day do you actually spend in silence? Five minutes? Ten? I don't think I even spend that much of my day in a state of calm and peace, with no noise around me.

However, I do walk my dog pretty much every morning on the trail behind our house. I usually carry my iPod with me, but most of the time I walk in silence. It is nice to hear only the clicking of Scout's nails on the pavement and the wind in the trees. The donkey who lives in the field nearby brays so loudly, you can hear it from far away.

Sitting in silence is hard to do, especially since we are all so used to having things flashing before our eyes and voices or music drumming in our heads 24/7.

When I went in to Ulta the other day, my ears were accosted by the sound of loud, obnoxious Christmas music. And it wasn't just any Christmas music mind you, it was the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy with a bass beat and a hip hop sound.

Let's just say I got in and out as fast as I could.

When I emerged from the hellish Christmas discotheque, it felt so good to enter the quiet parking lot and escape the too-early mania that is the annual marketing strategy of American consumerism. I don't begin celebrating Christmas beginning on November 1st because, well, that's just ridiculous.

Anyway, silence is valuable. Its valuable because not many people utilize it nowadays.

I was sitting in my living room praying the other day and found it difficult to focus on what I was saying to God. I kept repeating myself and to him I must have sounded like a babbling idiot. I know he knows what I am trying to say, but I articulate my speech better in conversations with friends than I do with the God of the universe. I blame our culture and the fact that we are constantly consuming media and noise. I also blame myself and the fact that I have not taken the time to utilize silence in order to form a quiet place in my mind and heart to speak with God on a regular basis.

Even though prayer is not totally silent, it is imperative that we practice it. It is imperative that we know the value of silence.