A Word About Silence

 

Some of my earliest recollections as a boy who had to go to school revolve around the routine and practice of being quiet. During recess, of course, running around playing tag or football was such great fun. I had so many great friends, and being part of a group of guys who love to just hang out at recess is a memory I still hold with great fondness.

 

Before the bell rang to tell us we could go out for recess, I remember watching the clock slowly tick the moments away, inching closer and closer to the moment the bell would ring and we could close our books and head outside. After being cooped up in a stuffy classroom all morning, we could hardly wait to get outside and start running around. I think recess lasted maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. And then, another bell. A signal that the fun had to stop, and the misery had to restart. Time to go back inside. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst part of it was … the silence.

 

As we made our way into our classroom, our teacher would sit behind her desk like a prison warden and say, “No talking. Place your heads on your desk, close your eyes, and be quiet.”  We couldn’t just sit up and be quiet. No, we had to lay our heads down, close our eyes like mere children and be quiet. You can’t see a thing when you’re eyes are closed. You can’t notice what Charlie Steven’s is doing in the seat in front of you. You can’t make funny faces at Pete Teagle sitting behind you. You can’t pinch any girls, or pull their braids, or say anything funny to anybody … because you had to be quiet, and keep your eyes closed and your head down on your desk until your teacher said you could take out your spelling book, or turn to page 109 in your social studies book. I hated being quiet. I hated closing my eyes. And, I disliked that silence, intensely.

 

I now know, of course, that one of the most important things a human being can ever learn in life is the value of quiet. Silent moments create space for you to get your mind off of shoving, and pushing, and racing around trying to get ahead. Quiet in a life is an opportunity to unapologetically put your head down, close your eyes, perhaps, and spend time thinking, talking to God. The sad truth is, if you didn’t learn the value of silence before … learning as an adult is really tough.

 

Listen to what the wise man in Lamentations chapter 3 said: “The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him, So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us— And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience.” (Lam. 3:25-28 in the Good News Translation.)

 

I’ve never been very good at sitting alone in silence. I’ve known that since I was in the 4th grade. I guess I should have paid more attention, after recess, because silence can be a lot harder to learn than arithmetic or spelling.