Silence

Have you ever been somewhere that was so absolutely silent that you could hear the blood flowing through your veins? It is quite incredible. You hear your own pulse and the low murming of your body doing what it constantly does just to keep you alive. The rest of the world is absolutely still and quiet.

Lying on my back in the middle of a massive salt pan one still night and gazing up at the stars, I was able to experience such silence. It is a very rare opportunity in this day and age and requires the perfect environment and conditions in order to occur. It's a little bit strange, but silence is so out of the norm for most of us that sometimes we hate it. A safari guide was telling a story at dinner the other night about a family from New York City who came to stay in camp and actually had to play recordings of city noises on their computers at night in order for the children to fall asleep. Believe me, honking taxi cab noises seem very out of place in an area like the Kalahari desert, but if noises are what you are accustomed to, then noises are what will make you feel comfortable. 

Aside from outside noises that reach our ears, what about inner noises that fill our minds from the thoughts we think? You can be in the quietest place on the planet and still "hear" lots of things in your mind. Men are said to have a "nothing box" where their minds can go and be completely empty as they zone out and think about absolutely nothing. Whether that is true or not, most people's minds are thinking the vast majority of the time rather than sitting dormant. What do we think about? I have personally been guilty of claiming to have been in my nothing box simply because I didn't realize what thoughts had been passing through my mind just moments earlier. Seriously, who thinks about what they are thinking about? But now I have you thinking about whether or not you think about what you are thinking about, right? I thought so. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

What thoughts we allow in our minds is very important. And yes, we are the ones who allow thoughts to stay in our minds. They may pop up seemingly out of nowhere, but whether or not they are allowed to stay is up to us. As 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "Take every thought captive to obey Christ." Those of us who belong to Christ are no longer subject to a yoke of slavery, not in our minds or our lives, and must be masters of our thoughts under the Lordship of God. 

So in any moments of silence you may have throughout the day, meditate on your blessings, on the Bible, and on things that bring honor to our Savior. When thoughts that are not good creep in, get rid of them! I will be right there with you trying to do the same thing. 

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." (Psalm 62:5 ESV)