{"id":1548,"date":"2013-02-03T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2013-02-03T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2013-02-03T14:00:12","modified_gmt":"2013-02-03T20:00:12","slug":"silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1548","title":{"rendered":"Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Be<\/a>Noises abound in our society.\u00a0 Some we cannot block out like barking dogs, chirping crickets, a whirring helicopter, elevator music, or a crying baby.\u00a0 Then there are noises we choose to let into our lives like television or radio.\u00a0 Many of us can\u2019t even get to sleep without some sort of \u201cwhite noise\u201d from a sound machine or a buzzing fan.\u00a0 Silence does not seem to be a valued commodity today.\u00a0 Yet scriptures tell us there is a time for silence (Ecclesiastes 1:7).<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of those times is when we approach God.\u00a0 While it\u2019s true we should pour our hearts out to God and let him know how we feel, sometimes we are so busy telling God what we want or think, we don\u2019t listen to what he\u2019s trying to tell us.\u00a0 Habakkuk 2:20 says, \u201cThe Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0In other words there are times to approach God reverently and be silent so you can hear what he has to say (Zephaniah 1:7).\u00a0 It is through silent communion with God that we can get to know him better.\u00a0 \u201cBe still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).\u201d<\/p>\n

I love this Mother Teresa quote:\u00a0 Silence is God\u2019s first language.\u00a0 Everything else is a bad translation.\u201d\u00a0 There may be some truth in that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also reminded of a line from the T.S. Elliot poem Ash Wednesday:\u00a0 \u201cWhere shall the word be found; when will the word resound?\u00a0 Not here.\u00a0 There is not enough silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to experience silence we might need to get away from the noises and stresses of life so we can spend some alone time with God.\u00a0 Many of us may not be able to spend a weekend at what they call Silence Retreats where people go to draw closer to God and commit to not speaking to anyone.\u00a0 Many of us may not even be able to rise early and find a silent environment to pray like Jesus did (Mark 1:35-38).\u00a0 However, we can all find what I like to call snippets of time to be still and be silent \u2013 one minute, two, three, four, or five.\u00a0 Just five minutes to be still with God will help us know him better.<\/p>\n

Our lives overflow with the sounds of everyday life.\u00a0 Yet it\u2019s in silence where we may often hear the whisper of God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noises abound in our society.\u00a0 Some we cannot block out like barking dogs, chirping crickets, a whirring helicopter, elevator music, or a crying baby.\u00a0 Then there are noises we choose to let into our lives like television or radio.\u00a0 Many … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}