The Sound of Silence
What does silence sound like? You may be tempted to say something like, “duh! Nothing.” But that isn’t quite true. Take a moment and give it a try. Block out all the clutter from your mind and spend at least 30 seconds just listening until you can hear silence. You may be distracted by the sounds of traffic, or nature, or your family’s movements in another room…but keep at it until you can hear it…blissful silence.
Today there seems to be a growing trend toward Mindfulness as the secret to health and happiness. “Technology has made it easier than ever to fracture attention into smaller and smaller bits,” says Joshua Lutz of Time Magazine in his February 3, 2014 article on this new obsession. Multi-tasking is the new norm and individuals who can master that neurotic skill seem to flourish in today’s work force, but at a tremendous cost…health and happiness. Stress and anxiety disorders are on the rise and the pharmaceutical industry is booming.
In a world where it is so easy to stay in touch, where the entire globe is literally accessible in mere seconds, we struggle to shut down and recharge with enough frequency to manage the important tasks caring for ourselves, our families and being completely present in any given moment to fully appreciate the important things in life. Science is even getting in on this phenomenon. Studies measuring productivity in multitasking is finding, ironically, that the practice of always being plugged in and turned on leads to lower overall productivity…and that rapidly switching between tasks makes it harder for the brain to filter out irrelevant information, which can lead to an increase in mistakes.
This may resonate with many of you, today, but consider what this means for our children. We’ve witnessed the rapid transformation of the world in which we live with fascination at the myriad directions technology can take us…but for today’s children and youth THIS IS THEIR WORLD. They do not know any other!
While mindfulness practices have roots in Buddhism, today’s practitioners will argue it has nothing to do with spirituality…but I disagree. 1 Kings 19:11-12 tells us that when Elijah encountered sheer silence, that is when he encountered God. God was not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire…but in the silence. Children Worship & Wonder knows this…each week they are given quiet response time to consider God’s stories. They are taught that this is their time to commune with God. Our gifts to our children generally involve some type of electronic media…something for them to plug into. This is what they crave and this is what they ask for. I will argue that the greatest gift you can give your children and yourself…is silence…for it is in these moments you have the greatest opportunities to encounter God.
Blessings,
Tracy