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Tish Harrison Warren is an Anglica priest in the US who has also become a popular writer on spirituality. She is currently offering a regular newsletter through the New York Times and a recent reflection had the heading We Need Silence. Why is it so hard to find? She laments a recent attempt to find prayerful silence by a stream only to be rattled by the roar of a leafblower. Some of you know how I feel about leafblowers and how my vocabulary degrades when I hear one. In her piece she observes: I’ve become more and more drawn to silence in the past five years, craving it, studying it and practicing it whenever I can. I’ve come to see the necessity of silence for emotional wellness, for spiritual growth, but also — and here’s the point where it becomes more than just a personal practice — for a healthy society. |
Studies indicate that constant noise boosts stress hormones, blood pressure and susceptibility to other chronic illnesses. It also creates a kind of relentless distractibility that keeps us from noticing our very lives and our internal needs and longings. A never-ending din makes it more difficult to process grief and intense emotions in healthy ways. |
Our society, as a whole, tends to avoid silence. In his book The World Outside Your Head, Matthew Crawford advocates for what he calls an “attentional commons.” We as a society hold certain resources in common, like air and water. These vital resources are available to everyone as part of the common good. Crawford says that the “absence of noise” — auditory silence but also freedom from things like advertisements that intrude on our attention — should be seen as just such a resource. He writes, “As clean air makes respiration possible, silence, in this broader sense, is what makes it possible to think.” He argues that we all need access to quiet, undistracting spaces. Through this past Summer and now into Autumn we have sought out quiet places to paddle in our canoe and kayaks and have been fairly successful. With few exceptions we are calmed and feel closer to the Creator. Yet, even on the water in more secluded spots human-made noise seeps into the silence and sounds of the natural world, and as the pandemic has abated (hallelujah) the beeping and buzzing and roaring has increased. We also seek out the quiet moments in our own spacious yard but they are few and far between -- yes, we are aware of how fortunate we are.That said, how do we listen for God in the din? I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new book by one of my favourite writers on things acoustical, Bernie Krause. The title, The Power of Tranquility In a Very Noisy World grabbed me right away. I hope there is an opportunity for prayerful restorative silence and solitude in your day. I agree with Tish Harrison Warren that silence is both precious and necessary.  |
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