There are stone walls littered through the forests of Massachusetts. Decades ago people actually tried to farm in places that only grow rocks. Each spring before trying to plow they derocked and built these old fences just to put the rocks somewhere useful. There are still a few stone foundations now covered with vines and oak and maple trees growing where there was once a room. Sometimes I sit and listen. If I really concentrate my mind supplies the voices of family. It’s interesting what one can hear in the silence of the forest. Mixed in with the breeze one can hear the “teacher, teacher” of ovenbirds and the laughter and tears of those who struggled here.
We live in a noisy world. It is difficult not to hear an airplane or a chainsaw intruding on what should be our chance to hear silence. It is a treat to find a moment when we can hear the rush of blood through our ears. Even now as I write the computer is softly serenading me with Beethoven. Have we so filled our lives with sound that we have become addicted and find silence uncomfortable?
In Luke 6:12 we read the following about Jesus. “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” He had no iPhone to create a musical background. It was the silence of a Palestinian night that surrounded Him. How I have often wondered how He filled those hours. Did He pray out loud and break the silence or was it an internal meditation with the Father? Some night in the silence He prayed for you.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 15, 2011
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org