“There is a beauty in silence. For example, you know you have a really good friend when there is complete silence yet there is no sense of awkwardness or pressure to continue conversation.”
Josh brings up a very valid point. But, how is silence golden in times where you are alone? Left to your own thoughts and wanderings of the mind?
I wrote the last point very late in the evening and really didn’t get to the point. There is a point where silence becomes too much.
God created His creation to be responsive and communal. He wants us to interact with each other. Share moments and fellowship with one another. But, at the same time He calls us to moments of stillness and the void…”Be still and know that I am God.” I’m very aware of that dynamic. Yet, is there a moment when enough is enough.
I am more than thankful for where I’m at now. Though I often complain about the silence…Its not at all as depressing as I make it sound. But, imagine those that do not have a loved one…who live their whole lives with lil to no true meaningful sense of community. Is silence golden to them?
Maybe I’m looking into this saying too much. Well, I know I am. But, the thought just echoed in my head late into the night. While its good to get away from the noise of life from time to time, fellowship is what is truly golden. And whether words be spoken and loud…or be quiet and unsaid like Josh mentioned in his comment…I think the wealth of life…the gold…is in the love we share with our loved ones.
I didn’t think this would be so thought provoking….but i’m curious…is Silence really that valued of a commidity for you? Is it golden?
Josh Mathews Said:
on July 2, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Good thoughts Jimmy.
Silence is golden when we are alone if we glorify God in those times (1 Cor. 10:31). Part of that is simply discerning what we are even thinking about. If it is not God-exalting, then we probably should be thinking of something else (2 Cor. 10:5).
At the same time, I think God instills desires and pleasures that can be pursued that satisfy our cravings for community while glorying Him. Fullness of joy (whether it be community, fellowship, relationship) comes from Christ alone (Psalm 16:11).
All that to say, I do hear the craving just to be around people. I am assuming you are an “E” on the Myers-Briggs. God has created us to understand teh riches of our inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 10:25).
In closing, 1 Cor. 7:35 talks about an “undivided devotion to the Lord.” In your silence or in community, how can you best leverage the time you have now to magnify God and be fully satisfied in Him?
Josh Mathews Said:
on July 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm
haha….I apologize for the typo on “the” in the third paragraph.
Dave Said:
on September 27, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I like very much, what Pythagoras says about silence.