The radio was on the other night as we ate dinner. It was classical music. Nothing startling or demanding. Sonic wallpaper if you like. The stuff that you don’t notice…
… until it stops.
Dead air is usually radio’s worst nightmare. In this case though we noticed the silence much more than we had noticed the music.
I wonder if church is like that?
We seem so keen to fill every available space with words, music, prayers…
… perhaps we need some dead air, some silence that people will notice.
I think it is like that.
Anytime I’ve lead a service, or even a 5 minute devotion on mission, I have a time for sitting in silence listening for God.
Without fail, people tell me how uncomfortable they find it and how they don’t know what to do with themselves. In fact, I’m often the same.
Why are we so uncomfortable with silence?
I usually have a slot of silence in the intercessory prayers for people to offer their own prayers. I’ve noticed over the years that students for ministry (and some qualified clergy) have difficulty in having a prolonged silence. We tend to be afriad of silences requiring them to be filled with words or actions of some kind. It’s almost as if we’re being diverted from the practice of waiting for God. We sing ‘be still…’ but we don’t follow through on that.
Interesting you posted this yesterday. I am working on something around this for my blog! (I ‘simulacre’ all your great ideas!)
Yes, dealing with silence is hard work – but worth the effort!
If I have children with me, I always get anxious if a minister says ‘lets spend a few moments in silence’ 🙂 !!