Hearing in the Silence
Cultivating listening in a noisy world
The unveiling
When I uttered the phrase “the silence of hearing” to my friend over coffee, she looked perplexed. ‘Let me explain,’ I said.
It did seem paradoxical—how can we possibly hear anything in complete silence? Yet, as I shared my experience, she slowly began to understand that within this seeming contradiction resides a profound truth that speaks to the very depths of who we are.
Let me tell you about that morning when the penny dropped for me. The world around me started off ordinary enough, draped in what most would consider pure silence.
But something extraordinary happened as I settled into that stillness. I realized the silence wasn’t merely an absence of sound but a powerful opportunity for deeper listening.
It was as if, in that quiet moment, my heart’s ears opened to perceptions my physical ears could never detect. Memories of that poignant scripture instantly flooded my mind: It says in 1 Kings 19_11–12:
The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” (NIV)
In this silence, in the stillness, there is a knowing, a hearing that transcends the physical.
The essence of silence has nothing to do with hushing external noise. No, it’s an intentional quieting of our inner selves so we can tune into something beyond our typical sensory experiences.
Like praying or meditating on God’s Word, practicing godly meditation as a spiritual discipline allows us to discern God’s gentle whisper amidst the cacophony of our daily lives, much as Elijah encountered God not in the earthquake or fire, but in a quiet, subtle voice.
Sacred spaces
I’ve discovered moments in my life where I embraced silence—not mere silence for silence’s sake, but a silence that created sacred space for me to listen with my heart, not my ears.
Our world constantly bombards us with distracting noises and clutter, vying for our attention. Yet, it’s in the quiet that clarity emerges, and truth speaks with distinct resonance.
Just imagine the profound impact this could have on our spiritual lives, my friend. Instead of approaching each new day as a checklist of duties or an onslaught of noise to endure, we could embrace it as an opportunity to truly listen to the whispers guiding us.
Easier said than done, I know. We must intentionally step back from life’s relentless pace and pounding stress and quiet our own inner chatter to listen deeply.
But as silence is cultivated, its transcendent effects ripple outward, transforming our interactions, decisions, and perceptions of the world around us. At that point, we become tuned to the subtle currents of grace flowing through, which are often unnoticed amidst the surrounding din.
Listening
At its core, silence extends an invitation to the depths of understanding and relationship with our Creator by simply being present.
Through this journey, I’ve learned that silence is not just a lack of noise but a canvas for the divine. It’s in the unplanned, unstructured moments of silence that I’ve found the most profound sense of peace and presence.
This practice of seeking silence has taught me the value of listening over speaking, of being overdoing, and has reshaped my understanding of presence—both God’s presence and my presence in the world.
As I continue pondering silence’s rich capacity to open my heart’s ears to the voice of God, I’m constantly wrestling with two profound questions:
- How might my life be transformed if I intentionally cultivate periods of heart-listening silence?
- How might my understanding of God, myself, and the world around me deepen if I regularly embraced the profound silence of hearing?
For me, these aren’t questions with pat answers but an open invitation to an unfolding pilgrimage of discovery—one where the deepest answers may well unveil themselves in those hushed, still moments along the way.
