One day I was operating an excavator, and my coworkers placed a radio nearby and turned on some music. When I started the excavator and began working, I could no longer hear the radio because the roar of the engine drowned out every other sound. The radio kept playing, sending out its music and trying to make itself heard above my noise, but I simply could not hear it.
I know people who are ready to listen to anything and welcome every kind of noise except silence.
Like light, sound has its own amazing laws and exerts an unseen influence on both people’s health and their minds. Scientists are still making remarkable discoveries in the field of sound and cannot claim to know everything about it, because new research and discoveries lead to further advances in this field. Yet I do not even stop to think about what surrounds me.
In the nineteenth century, there lived a man named Ernst Chladni. He is known for making an interesting discovery in the field of sound, visually demonstrating that sound can draw—and can even draw very complex, symmetrical figures. Each sound vibration creates a new and unique pattern. Ernst made a plate, sprinkled salt on it, and drew a bow along its edge. The sounds produced certain vibrations, and the salt gathered on the surface in proportional geometric patterns. When the sound changed, the patterns changed as well. The salt responded to the commands of sound and assumed the shape assigned to it by that sound. Ernst later replaced the bow with a loudspeaker, and these new possibilities led to further discoveries. Any granular substance—salt, sugar, sand, or flour—obeys the command of sound and immediately gathers into the patterns it dictates. Ernst gave his name to this discovery, and today these patterns are known as Chladni plates or Chladni figures.
We are surrounded by thousands of different sounds and vibrations that affect us in one way or another—our mood and our well-being. Our ears hear far more than we realize. These sounds send spiritual or physical impulses to the body, and the body carries out the commands it has heard. But unlike a Chladni plate, my mind has a decision-making command center called the will, which determines my final actions. If my will has been weakened by the influence of sin, my body begins receiving various signals through my ears and obeying them.
Have you ever experienced heartfelt joy or sorrow because of ordinary music? I have. Some songs moved me to tears, while others made my mind rejoice. Some plunged me into sadness, stirring up emotions and memories. At times my personal space was filled with different noises that created discomfort, interfered with my living and thinking, and made me irritable.
I decide within myself to decorate my little house of happiness with silence, so that in this stillness I may learn to hear something very important and very, very quiet that speaks to my heart.
The sounds of this world drown out the most important sounds and voices, and only silence helps me hear what I need most. God desires to speak with me.
Silence is the natural state of matter and space when there is no source of sound, just as darkness and cold exist where there is no source of light or heat. As a human being, I cannot listen to absolute silence, because the sounds of my own body become very loud and I hear ringing in my ears. There is even an expression: ‘It is so quiet that my ears are ringing.’
Someone measured and studied sound in decibels, and physicians concluded that sound up to 60 dB is pleasant, up to 70 dB is safe, and anything above that is harmful to health and the nervous system. These findings are worth considering and understanding so that we do not deprive ourselves of the blessings of health.
I know people who cannot bear silence and do everything possible to avoid it. I did not understand such fears. But when silence entered my life, I discovered that it is the best setting for my existence, one in which the Lord can speak with me. His is a special Voice—gentle, calm, and inaudible to the ear. Silence keeps anything from distracting me; my body begins to recover, my hearing grows sharper, and my perception of the spiritual world comes into harmony with nature.
I was not created to listen to the radio, and artificial noise brings no rest to my soul. Instead, it distracts me and fills my inner world with all kinds of things. Amid this noise, I simply cannot hear the still, small Voice of God. Yet He desires to communicate with me. He has something to tell me. He wants to teach me something and bring me joy, but I do not hear Him. There are empty background sounds that create noise and convey no information, but there are also voices with definite plans for me—to rob, kill, destroy, and provoke me.
My words are also sounds. They carry meaning and information, and they accomplish what they were spoken to do. With a simple request, I can prompt another person to do what I ask. And if spiritual meaning is placed within those words, they can change people’s consciousness and worldview.
Silence cannot be the source of happiness, because silence itself is empty and contains nothing. But creating conditions of silence in my house helps me hear God, Who comes to dine with me and desires fellowship and a relationship with me. In moments of silence, I learn to listen to this Voice when my heart lives in harmony with God’s laws and my soul longs to know the Most High.
This Voice speaks to everyone. Perhaps that is why many people are afraid to find themselves in silence.
Silence also implies peaceful coexistence with those around me where I live. They may be noisy people, but they do no harm, and it is good and peaceful to be near them. It may mean friendly relationships at work and the absence of conflict with those around me.
One song contains these words: ‘It is well and peaceful with the soul where silence reigns.’ Silence within the soul brings joy and peace to the heart. It is the absence of sin, assurance of salvation, and harmony with nature and with God.
Love is also given to me to bring order to my soul and lead it into a state of silence and inner balance. Silence of soul is self-control in the realm of feelings and thoughts, a calmness and attentiveness that shape my character into the likeness of God.
If we consider God’s actions and character, we can see that He calmly carries out what He has purposed. He does not hurry or shout. At times He speaks very loudly, but for the most part His Voice is quiet and convincing. God’s words are understood by a pure heart.
Lifeless salt understands the sounds of this world and obeys them. How much more will my body and mind recognize the Voice of their Creator and do what He tells them.
When I sleep, my body carries out what the Holy Spirit directs it to do. Yet within all this creation there is one supremely independent and free faculty—my will, which is capable of choosing. By its very nature, it cannot remain unattached; it must belong to a husband. Yet it has the right to choose which husband it will accept.
Jesus and my carnal nature are two powers that desire to possess my will. Once the will marries one of them, it listens only to the husband’s voice and carries out his requests.
And my heart seeks silence of soul.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Jeremiah 6:16; Isaiah 26:20–21; 30:7, 15; 38:14–15; 57:20; Job 4:15–16; 34:29; Psalm 4:8; 23:2; 91:1; 107:29; Matthew 8:24–27; 11:28–30; 1 Kings 19:10–12; 1 Thessalonians 4:9–11; Exodus 33:14–15; Joshua 21:44; Proverbs 1:33; Ecclesiastes 9:17; Habakkuk 2:4; Hebrews 4:9–11