Sound of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping…

As a teenager some ‘pop-music’ was fun, some rebellious. Paul Simon’s ‘Sound of Silence’ made me think. Walking home from school on dark winter nights, alone, across the empty park, I listened to the ‘sound of silence’.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp…

The walk in the countryside musing, the cosy armchair reading a book, returning home after a busy day, the time when noisy, demanding young children have gone to bed…. The sound of silence can be welcome.

The anticipated phone call – bringing good or bad news, communication destroyed following a serious argument with a loved one, the loneliness of old age, being part of the crowd where everyone ignores you… The sound of silence amplifies anxieties.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,

The ancient Bible character Job had to deal with a silent God. Job’s problem was not that his God had left him, but that he was present and remained silent.

Some, unsure of their faith, face a real problem: a God, facing suffering and injustice remains silent and inactive …? Others join with Job’s struggles: not losing their faith, they listen for their God but hear the sound of silence.

Today… I seek to be aware of those troubled by the sound of silence of their loneliness, to be a sound of friendship, comfort or hope.

…I appreciate the sound of silence, musing, reflecting, listening to hear the still small voice of my God.

“Fools,” said I, “You do not know.
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you.
Take my arms that I might reach you…”