One of my favourite verses of recent years has been “Be Still and Know that I Am God.” Although it doesn’t specifically mention silence I sense that it is implied. How can we hear from God if we never shut up, if we never close out the noise of life, if we never even Sabbath for a few minutes?
We joke that lockdown is a bit like a month of Sabbaths. However, home life is not very silent in general, let alone in lockdown, with one baby and one toddler and the blessing or challenge of demands for attention. I would not change that for the world. I love my wee family and they deserve a Father or Husband who gives them good attention. There is also now a demand for TV from our toddler (which as Wilkerson put it can seem like a sewer running through your living room, I wonder what that makes smart phones for us adults). Then my job as a Support Worker is hardly silent and certainly not that of calm solitude at times. Again it is an essential role and I am grateful to God that I have the provision of a job in such uncertain times. The opportunity to be a keyworker is both anxiety inducing and at the same time an honour.
The church I go to is fairly upbeat, even while online. I love lively Christianity as it is very in keeping with the word Hallelujah, which my wife often reminds me means effectively to make a loud shout unto the Lord. So, again I am greatful for the style of church I’m in.
However, I also deeply love the still, the calm, the silence. This is the place where I find God best as both a contemplative and introvert sort. In a fast paced loud world finding time for silence is a worthwhile challenge. I pray God guides me and all who thirst for it to his still waters.
Even if only for one minute take a moment to be still and know Him as God.
