Seeking Quiet
Following is an excerpt from my new book titled Spiritual Jam Session: A Weekly Devotional for Classic Rock Fans:
When you hear a few seconds of a Classic Rock song, do you instantly know who the recording artist is? Even if you don’t recall the name of the song or which album it’s from? That’s how I am.
Every once in a while when my wife and I have a little time to kill before going out, I’ll turn on the Classic Rock TV station and face away from the screen. When a song starts, I quickly blurt out the name of the band or singer, and she looks at the screen and lets me know if I’m right. I’m correct about 95 percent of the time.
Not bragging here. I’m pretty sure there are many things of which to be prouder. But something clicks in my brain that’s connected to the music or the singer’s voice, even if it’s a song I haven’t heard for a couple of decades.
My wife is surprised (I won’t go so far as to say “impressed”) I can do this, especially when it’s a band she’s never heard me mention. “How do you remember that” she might ask, “when you’ve already forgotten what I told you yesterday about one of our adult children?” Now, that’s a question that stumps me every time.
There’s just something about sounds that spark our memories, and it’s a good thing they do. The honking of a car might result in you immediately slamming on the brakes as you’re driving, while the honking of a goose would only cause you to casually glance in the direction of a body of water as you’re taking a walk. Mothers, in particular, are able to wake up when they hear a baby softly crying from another room, but they may sleep through a loud storm.
I know people who love quiet. They thrive on it. They need a certain percentage of their day to be free from noise in order to work effectively at their job or be creative in their leisurely pursuits. I also know folks who require an ongoing source of noise in order to keep from getting distracted. Too much quiet unnerves them. They need white noise when they sleep.
Neither of these preferences is right or wrong. But I do believe there are times when we all need to seek quiet and solitude in order to hear God’s “still small voice” (I Kings 19:12; King James Version).
One of my favorite verses is, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’” (Psalm 46:10a; New International Version). It’s an important reminder that all my worrying and voicing of concerns are a waste of energy. God has things under control, and it’s only when I repeat that verse, close my mouth, and shut down that I can relax and hand my anxieties over to Him.
Hope you enjoyed this excerpt. Feel free to check out my books on the Home and Books pages.