The lost art of a simple silence
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- October 21, 2020
- 776
“I drank the silence of God from a spring in the woods.” — Georg Trakl.
We live in an incredibly noisy world, where it is getting harder and harder to think. We have information coming at us from every direction — people telling us what and how to think, and we need to fall in line with the popular thinking of our day. If we don’t fall in line, we will be looked down upon as not getting with the program. Of course, with the web and all the other places to get information, it has become more like a free for all. Where there is no truth, you believe what you want to believe and I believe what I want to believe.
I feel like I am being hit with so much information — and misinformation — that it is hard to navigate it all. I think that is where silence comes into it. In an increasingly negative world with information just pounding us from every side, the ability to quiet one’s mind is lost on the world today. I know for myself I get so overwhelmed to the point where I can’t think anymore. That is when I turn off the TV and just sit for a while, letting my mind relax and just have a break from everything.
I saw an interview with a doctor who was talking about kids who have trouble paying attention in school. He asked a few parents if the kids play video games, and some said their kids can play for hours on end. He said the problem with some of the kids he saw was their mind was going way too fast due to playing video games all the time. They lose interest in what the teacher is teaching because the teacher is doing so at a much slower rate than the video games. His answer was to limit game-playing time and replace it with more family time so the child’s mind won’t be thinking at a high rate of speed all the time.
One of the things I love to do is reach for my Bible when I get up in the morning and sit on my porch. I have a rocking chair I love to sit in and just let God’s word inspire me. When I’m done reading, I pray and look at the trees, hear the birds and just wait on God. It relaxes my mind and helps get my day started.
To many people, that may sound like it would get old quick, but I know if I don’t give myself time with the Lord, then life will take over and I will have to play “catch up” the whole day.