Silence

Our apartment was very noisy just recently. It flooded and the first week they ran 31 industrial fans and three dehumidifiers to dry it out. The second week it was better; only 26 industrial fans and three dehumidifiers. The roar of them invaded my thoughts and my sleep. I could hardly stand to be there. Why?

I like silence.
Lots of it.

My husband was telling me about a sound proof room that was so quiet the longest anyone has been able to stay in it was 45 minutes. I thought it would be a heavenly place to vacation. My husband says it’s because I’m nuts. My oldest son says he thinks my eardrums are too tight. Whatever the reason, I don’t like noise or constant sound.

I don’t shop in stores that play loud music. I don’t listen to the radio unless I’m forced. The TV in our home is only on if somebody is actually watching it. If I listen to a CD, it goes off after the first time through and sometimes half way through. Although there are sounds I enjoy (like crickets and cicadas and frogs in the evening, and the creek our wooden rocker makes when you’re rocking,) I only enjoy them for about 15 minutes.

Don’t ever make sounds around me the first thing in the morning. If you must flush the toilet, do it as quietly as possible. Muffle it and keep the door closed until it’s done. And don’t talk to me, don’t make me talk, don’t talk to anyone else within my hearing, whether I’ve had coffee or not. Give me 15 minutes of silence and then I might be able to function normally.

I use to work on a busy street and was subject to traffic and other city sounds the whole time. I relished getting home to our quiet street dwelling.

You got it, yes? I like silence.

The tea shop where I used to work got a new cash register after I had been there about 10 years. It was very quiet! It was a touch pad screen and the only sound it made was a gentle click of a latch and an almost silent sliding when the drawer opened. The old register beeped and clanked.
$1.98 tea – Beep beep beep bep.
3@$2.98 housewares – beep bip beep beep beep bep.
$11.03 paid. Beep beep beep beep bip clack swoosh clank chink.

I missed the old cash register.
What did I miss about it?
The sounds.
Why did I miss those sounds when I love silence?
Confirmation. Assurance.
Those beeps told me (to a certain extent) that what I was doing was working; that I was accomplishing something; that I was doing it right. We all like confirmation. We like to be assured that what we expect or hope is going on, actually is. We listen for it all the time.

When we turn on our car and don’t hear the engine running, what do we do? Press on the gas to make the engine rev so we can hear it and confirm it is indeed running.

Those of us that preserve food by canning, listen for the popping sound that says our processing worked and the jars are sealing. Then after the jars have cooled, we’ll tap the lids to listen for the tone that assures us that it really did seal.

If we say something to somebody and they don’t respond with at least a grunt, we repeat what we said or ask them if they heard us.

If we say “I love you,” we like to hear it said back to us.

Confirmation. Assurance.
We all listen for it. We all want it. We all need it.

God knows this about us and provides the confirmation and assurance we want and need. He confirmed His will to the Israelites often. He assured them that what He said was true. He confirmed through His prophets when they were doing it wrong and when they were doing it right. In the New Testament He did the same and He still does today. He confirms His word to us. He assures us of His promises. He assures us of His love for us. He’ll send people to tell us so that we’ll hear this with our physical ears; and if we listen with our spiritual ears, we’ll ‘hear’ it inside us. (For sometimes if there’s too much external noise, it makes it difficult to listen with our hearts.)

I like Isaiah 32:17 & 18. It’s a wonderful promise.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect
of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in
sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; (KJV)

Peace, quietness and assurance. Sure dwellings and quiet resting places. Ahhh… Heavenly!