Now The Silence

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There’s a hymn in The United Methodist Hymnal titled, “Now The Silence.” Written by Jaroslav J. Vajda in 1968, the words move through a powerful engagement as a human being with the divine. Probably located in a section of the hymnal unfamiliar to many of us, the poetic words can easily move us from a place of complacency to a prostrate position.

Thanks to the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, I had the opportunity to spend a few days here at Wesley Gardens Retreat outside of Savannah, GA. I am not much for quiet solitude. Many times when I am in the quiet, and a recluse space, I find my mind wandering (and wondering). So, when it is time for a quiet retreat – I might not be so quiet. And, yes, this time around, it has been hard to be quiet.

Why is it hard for us to be still and quiet? Funny how in scripture we know certain passages that encourage this type of time, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10). But, what if this most-well-known-scripture actually isn’t about being still and quiet? Maybe there’s another question: what is silence? There’s an article titled, “Scientists created the quietest place on earth, a concrete chamber where you can hear your blood move.”[1] According to ClassicFM.com,

In 2015, Microsoft built the quietest place on earth. But while it may sound like a sanctuary of meditative bliss, few can stand being in the room for an elongated amount of time. After a number of minutes, you’ll begin to hear your own heartbeat. Stick it out a little longer, and you’ll hear your own blood flowing and bones grinding. With no sound from the outside world allowed in, the almost absolute silence will gradually manifest itself as an unbearable ringing in your ears.[2]

I had a colleague a few years ago share with a group of us in a clergy gathering that he had challenged himself to be still in a quiet space for a long period of time. He shared that the silence became so overwhelming that it actually became deafening and he couldn’t take it any longer. He couldn’t fully share what the experience was that overcame him – but that the silence, sitting in a true space of quiet solitude, moved the core of his soul. It moved him so much, mysteriously, that he knew was again presented with his true call into pastoral ministry.

I think that this all goes to say that if we take the moments to be in silence and in a quiet space for a long-period of time: we might actually hear or be stirred deep within our physical beings and metaphysical souls to something that might just be jarring. I mentioned earlier that it is hard for me to be completely still in the presence of silence – and it isn’t always so silent. I also share the scripture for Psalm 46:10, which is maybe a piece of the song-writer’s message that we completely misinterpret. The entire Psalm actually says this:

¹God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,

though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,

³though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

⁵God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;

God will help it when the morning dawns.

⁶The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice; the earth melts.

⁷The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.

⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord;

see what desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰“Be still, and know that I am God!

I am exalted among the nations;

I am exalted in the earth.”

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Isn’t it interesting that the scripture we most reference for stillness and to know God’s presence actually doesn’t come until after some turbulence and noise? I wonder, then, if we allow ourselves to be in the noise; if we allow ourselves to be in a place that is so void of sound that we are actually bombarded by the noise of our own souls, blood, and bones; if we allow ourselves to be in quiet retreat center and through the wandering and wondering of our minds (which is noise as well); if we allow this to happen – maybe we will actually enjoy, participate, envelope, and welcome the true sense of God’s peace and stillness … who knows, maybe we will even more be present to see that I Am is God.

Jaroslav J. Vajda wrote the words to “Now The Silence,” and it makes me even more aware of what his words mean as I am in this time and space of quiet solitude. Through the turmoil, through the noise, through the silence that can be noise-filled, we can live a life that is filled with an overwhelming sense of God’s presence. Read these words as our prayer together:

Now the silence

Now the peace

Now the empty hands uplifted

Now the kneeling

Now the plea

Now the Father’s arms in welcome

Now the hearing

Now the power

Now the vessel brimmed for pouring

Now the body

Now the blood

Now the joyful celebration

Now the wedding

Now the songs

Now the heart forgiven leaping

Now the Spirit’s visitation

Now the Son’s epiphany

Now the Father’s blessing

Now

Now[3]

[1] https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/worlds-quietest-room-microsoft-anechoic-chamber/[/

[2] Ibid.

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