Silence is the doorkeeper of the interior life.
~ St. Josemaria Escriva
If there’s one thing I find difficult to deal with in this community I work in, it would be their abhorrence for silence. Every single minute of the day needs to be filled with mindless chatter and noise of every sort. To be honest, it’s not just them. I have family members like that, who cannot allow the minutes and hours to be still. This has now crept into church services as well. Gone are the days when we could spend in quietude those few minutes before Mass begins, replaced now by choir practices to get the hymns right.
Where has our peaceful acceptance of silence gone? Why are we fleeing the songs of nature, the lilting avian melodies and the hymn of the winds in the trees? Granted, some noise is part of life, and we must accustom ourselves to it – but why the necessity to be comforted only and always by the various man-made noises of the world? What are we afraid of?
Are we reluctant to seek that which lies beyond the door to our spirits?
God is not to be found in the clamour of unnecessary noise and disturbances. As the saints have long knowm, He resides in the hiddenness of that interior world of our spirits. I think He has chosen to locate His abode there so that we can make that deliberate choice to leave the world as often as needed, to slip into the byways of silence.
It takes the effort of silence on our part to begin our journey to Him and to find Him.
writingonmyheart 
I agree. In Lent at my church we arrive in silence and have prayer and then we leave in silence allowing those who want to pray to do so in the quiet…
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Very respectful, as it should be. Some parishes have lost it, though. We have become like the marketplaces which Jesus once took a whip to.
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I agree! A certain amount of silence is necessary in life, and I especially appreciate it at churches. But it’s becoming more and more rare.
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Sad, isn’t it. It says a lot about us when we cannot appreciate the need for silence for ourselves and for others.
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there isn’t enough quiet here, even in church. Well actually not quite true. I try to get to the church down the road, at least once a week when it’s empty. To read and pray, then the silence is golden. My partner and her family were Quakers. They use silence way more, and more effectively in their meetings.
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Some communities have all the wisdom on this. But none here. Here, it’s all just noise. Silence seems to unnerve people here. You are blessed to have a church so close to you. I pray it’s always silent enough for you. Oh, how we need that stillness.
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This is so true. I think of the scripture in 1 Kings 19… “and after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” I think silence is necessary to hear the ‘still small voice’, and to be honest… listening is an exercise that you do in silence. Sometimes I fail to fully listen and I butt right in…but to fully listen requires patience, silence, and full attention. That the small voice is associated with fire and brimstone is important too. One might more appreciate the calming sounds than thunderous roars in trying times.
Teddy Roosevelt used to say ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’. I think this too is wise, in silence you can still find resolve and power. But that resolve is less likely to be wielded in anger. Quietness is not necessarily only for the meek.
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Many profound truths in your comment – thank you so much for each one. The verses from 1 Kings 19 are one of my favourite verses and God always speaks to me through them, especially when I’ve been out too long in the highways of noise. It’s true, what you say – as we must seek silence ourselves, we owe it to others too to be silent, and to let them say what they need to – after all, as you say, being quiet is not necessarily a sign of timidity.
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I agree. We are a noisy world and it is a sad state, that we do not embrace the holiness of silence.
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People are uncomfortable with silence because it brings them face to face with God – and they find it unbearable. This silence is likely shining a heavenly Light upon their souls. I guess some folks can sense what they are about to be shown, thus find ways to escape that illumination. I dare say we’re all like that at points in our life. Even when surrounded by outer silence, we can somehow fill our heads with enough noise to create a ruckus within us.
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