Tuesday, February 5, 2008

 

Dejunk our Life Series

 

Ecclesiastes 3:7 “….a time to be silent and a time to speak” 

 

A Time to be Silent and a Time to Speak

 

Mrs. Catherine, the principal at Mary B. Austin Grammar School said to my mother when I was in the first grade, “If Chip is in proximity to another human being it is impossible for him to stop talking.”    She found herself equally perplexed that I could spend a day in absolute quiet if she put me into a removed window seat in the school library with a book in my lap.  That window seat is where I spent the greater part of first through sixth grade, much to the relief of my teachers.  

 

Averette used to joke that she would “die of worn-out eardrums.”  I asked my secretary, Jan, recently if she thought it impossible for me to be quiet if I were in the same room with another human being.   Jan and I work in the same office.  I primarily dictate, or read to her in researching the sermons or studies.  We have spent hours together where I dictate sermons, read research aloud, dictate articles, and formulate administrative tasks.  I expected Jan to say, “Yes, Chip can be quiet a great deal of the time.”  However, Jan said, “I do not believe it is possible for Chip to be in proximity to another human being and not talk.”  

 

Ecclesiastes 3:7 lists times of change.   In one instance it says “….a time to be silent and a time to speak.”    Maybe there are periods of silence in a human being’s life.   As the scripture says there are indeed times to be silent.   What would it be like for a curtain of silence to drop on many of the conversations that I routinely have?  Probably, in my life around the office, it would go unnoticed.   In a few short months Anna Camille will be gone to college and Averette will be just as content to sit beside me as we both read.   I believe that God could use the silence to speak to my heart.   I could focus on what people are saying to me without worrying how I would respond.    It would definitely be a discipline and a challenge.  However, what benefits would I discover as well?   The scripture implies there is a time to speak and I would be prepared for those times. However, the investment of silence could be a great spiritual experience.   

 

I wonder as we approach Lent what challenges God may have for us.   Maybe God had rather you make more efforts to talk to others.  Perhaps, God may call you to sacrifice something you particularly enjoy.  Perhaps, God may be calling you to spend more time with Him through scripture or fasting.  

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to consider the changes you have for me.  Amen.