Lionel, a fellow Plurker, wrote this post on his blog Acid42 about the interplay of Noise and Silence … These Last Few Days… Leave Me Alone. It’s a thoughtful piece, and I encourage you to read it and offer your reflections on it.
No matter who we are or how we live, we have this dynamic of Noise and Silence in our lives. Some of us swing more to one end than to the other.
The Gospels are a great place to look to see how this dynamic plays out in the life of Jesus. Sometimes Jesus is in the midst of the crowds, other times alone in the wilderness. In both places — the Noise and the Silence — Jesus encounters God.
In the Noise … When Jesus goes to the Jordan River with John the Baptist and a crowd of people, John baptizes Jesus. The heavens open up and the voice of God resounds, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
In the Silence … Right after his baptism, Jesus is led by God into the wilderness where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. (Matthew 4:1-2)
What is your pattern of Noise and Silence like? How do you find God in both?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I am discerning a vocation as a consecrated hermit. Solitude is very attractive to me, so I sometimes wonder if I am being selfish in wanting to run off and live alone in the woods. It always comes as a surprise to realize that most people would hate to live that way! That makes me think, maybe it’s just really my vocation.
Thank God for the nurses and the schoolteachers and the missionaries! For me, though, the only way I have anything to give is if I really guard my contemplative space — I’m too distractible to live prayerfully in the midst of society.
Even as a hermit, I would never be totally isolated. A hermit is a monk, and bound to hospitality, to receive each guest as Christ. Whatever I find in contemplation, I am willing to share in counseling or spiritual direction, or even just to share the gift of listening that I nurture in my quiet life with God.
I will have to see, once I get free of this urban house and off into the hills, and join a new rural parish, how I will balance welcoming service with protecting my own solitary vocation.
Following God is an adventure!
Sister Julie,
This post was very interesting; thank you for sharing it. It got me thinking about how I personally handle silence and noise. I’ve come to the same conclusion as the author- that noise is almost a necessity for me (coming from a large family). It seems that when we start building our relationship with God we discover just how much we rely on our five senses, and those who are chosen to live a life in silence are blessed with a great spiritual strength.