I remember when I was just a boy I went with my dad to work at the construction site. We left somewhere between 5-6 a.m. and I hadn't slept very much the previous night. My dad dropped me off and showed me all that I had to do before he would come back to pick me up later that day. Of course I was tired but soon was hammering, digging, drilling, sawing, and accompanying the other workers in a variety of tasks. It was loud, just like it typically is when renovating a house. When I completed what my dad had asked me to do I still had about an hour and a half for him to arrive at the site. Even though the other workers continued their own separate tasks I sought to take advantage of the hour and a half I would have to wait and try to sleep a bit. At first it was uncomfortable and it seemed impossible with the clanking of nails, the cutting of wood, and Spanish phrases being shouted off between workers across the site. But I was so focused on how tired I was that my mind soon took the surrounding noise and built a resistance to the stimulation. In other words, I tuned out the noise from my consciousness and was able to fall asleep. The interesting part is that at noon everyone had stopped and gone on break for lunch. When that happened a new stimulation in my mind woke me up and I was once again uncomfortable—it was silent.
Although this parable is not flawless the lesson it has taught me is; it is that we have grown to be uncomfortable and afraid of silence. The world we live in is so full of noise and distraction, both physically and spiritually, and our minds and spirits have grown a resistance to those stimulations tuning them out of our consciousness. The things most of us are doing day-to-day are drowning us with so much "noise" and we are becoming "drunk" with it all. As Isaiah 51:17 states, "thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling (another word for fear), and wrung them out". In other words we are so caught up with filling ourselves with empty and temporary pleasures that we are addicted to the point of drinking even the dregs, or in other words, the sediments and worst part of the wine. We can't get enough of what we are drinking because what we are drinking leaves us feeling even more thirsty, so we keep pouring to quench our thirsts! The prophet Amos has even prophesied that "in [our] day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst." (Amos 8:13) What do we thirst for? More noise.
We are stretching the noise in our lives to cover our "trembling", fear, shame, or nakedness. The latest trends of sports, social media, phones, music, movies, thrill-seeking, vanity, excessive sleeping, overeating, video-games, texting, mindless arguments, ridiculing, and "loud-laughter" are some of the countless ways we can be introducing noise into our lives and that is only the beginning. When a conversation hits a dead end we grow uncomfortable. When another person stands next to us in the elevator or aisle in the grocery store we look the other way (or at our phone). When we finish a task or have nothing to "do" we create another one or simply watch a movie to "kill time". When we are alone and surrounded by the aggressive sound of silence we turn on the music and scroll through the endless stories of what the world is talking about, laughing about, criticizing, blaming, degrading, mocking, ridiculing, and so forth. We build up walls around us thinking that the reality of the world is best understood within them. We are afraid of silence.
Why are we afraid of silence? Because we should be. Like what happened to me at the construction site when I was sleeping, the stimulating change of our surrounding environment awakens us. Just how I awoke to the relatively new sound of quietness, we are awakened to our conscious (self) and realize just how naked, vulnerable, afraid, and unprepared we really are. We have surrounded ourselves with unholy practices and are worshipping idols and false gods, namely in the form of our daily activities. God's fury is hanging over us like a sword. "And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles." (3 Nephi 20:20) He is angry, not because He hates us, but because He loves us and we have turned our back on His Son and the sacrifice He has made on our behalf. He has blessed us to live in a land (even the Promise Land) of which we are able to enjoy a myriad of freedoms, yet, we have abused it into polluting ourselves with "entertainment" and unproductive behaviors.
When silence creeps in we find a way to push it back out and make more noise because, hey, "I can't sleep with all of this silence!" Even literally, in my own room, the air-conditioning unit runs all night because both my roommate and I have grown so accustomed to the humming of the machine, we would have a hard time sleeping with it off! We all prefer the specific noise we are individually used to because it "rocks" us to sleep and gives us a false sense of security (pun intended).
When silence creeps in we find a way to push it back out and make more noise because, hey, "I can't sleep with all of this silence!" Even literally, in my own room, the air-conditioning unit runs all night because both my roommate and I have grown so accustomed to the humming of the machine, we would have a hard time sleeping with it off! We all prefer the specific noise we are individually used to because it "rocks" us to sleep and gives us a false sense of security (pun intended).
Silence is the only medium through which the Spirit speaks. Of course even in silence we must still fine-tune our ears to the Lord, but it can only be done after we have turned all of the specific noise in our individual lives OFF whatever that may be. I am certain that there are obvious things that are distractions and fill up our lives with nothing but short-lived pleasure and, eventually, dissatisfaction. These are easier to spot and recognize as some of the noise that can be eliminated from our lives. Some of these may include drugs, gambling, substance abuse, pornography, riotous living, or any other form of severely addictive behaviors. But for many of us we need to be made aware of the hundreds of smaller things that altogether create a sort of static in our hearts and minds. Some of these things may even be good behaviors that that have taken precedence over that which is more important.
I find it fascinating that despite all of the disaster, calamity, destruction, and terror the Nephites and Lamanites experienced in the events leading to 3 Nephi chapter 11, they still had to first tune out their emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual noise in order to hear the voice of God:
“3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.
5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.”
There is a voice everyday that calls for us to come unto Christ. It begs for us to "come unto [Him], all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and [He] will give [us] rest" (Matthew 11:28). And what are we laboring for every day? Is it for more noise? Is it for more things that "lull us away into carnal security"? (2 Nephi 28:21) Is it to "escape", get high, or be "free"? Christ knows that true labor in His gospel is NOT labor that makes us "heavy laden" but truly free—free in the sense that we are awakened and made aware of our "nakedness" (2 Nephi 9:14) and brings us to humility. We cannot be made aware and be awakened and be free without listening to the Spirit. We cannot hear the Spirit if we are surrounded by noise. We must learn to grow accustomed to silence in our lives and even invite silent moments for us to meditate and pray. The holiest and most recollected people I have studied about, no matter what their religion, knew the vital significance of silence and prayer in their life; people like Muhammad, Ghandi, Isaiah, Joseph Smith, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., and ultimately Christ himself. Could we not seek to filter out the static of everyday living and invite the Spirit to be our constant companion and guide?
Let us seek to create sacred places, holy moments, and spiritual silence in our lives. Let us look to our temples which are the models of the type of environment that harbors the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. This I know to be true because my God hath revealed it to me. I stand fully accountable for what I have written and bear my witness that it is true according to that which I have been given to know. I bear my witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
