Silence is Golden

If you are a "Baby boomer," or just like music from the 60's (like me), you might remember Frankie Valli belting out in mournful tones the words to the song by the name, "Silence is Golden". In the song he proclaimed the sorrow in the heart of a young man who saw the girl he loved mistreated by another.

My wife was commenting last night on the changes we go though in our lives. When we are young, there is rarely a time when we think that silence (quiet time) is something to be desired, much less valued as much as gold. As we get older though, we learn to appreciate more and more the times of quiet in our lives. We have discovered the most important button on the Television remote control is the "mute" button, followed closely by the "off" button. Why those buttons? We like those buttons, because we have learned to appreciate silence more at this time in our lives.

It's was interesting to me to learn that the first recorded use of the phrase was in 1848. Actually the entire phrase was, "Speech is silver, Silence is golden". We might say, "just stop speaking and listen".

I would suggest that in this day and age that we need to think about those words. Our world is filled with chaos, the daily news reports seem to carry nothing but reports of unrest, danger and tragedy. When do you find time to escape the turmoil and pressure of this world?

The writer of Psalm 46 had this to say about our world and the need for silence.

"The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God's voice thunders, and the earth melts!

The LORD of Heaven's Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. Interlude

Come, see the glorious works of the LORD: See how He brings destruction upon the world.

He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; He burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God!I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."

The LORD of Heaven's Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress." (Psalms 46:6-11)

Yes, sometimes silence truly is golden (of great value), be cause unless we can shut out the world we can never hear the voice of God. The storms of life rage, the mountains shift and crumble, fires burn, houses fall, accidents come, death takes loved ones, but God's voice is a constant source of strength and promise for us.

--Russ Lawson