SILENCE!!

Ecclesiastes 3:7b - "...A time to be silent and a time to speak."
Revelation 8:1 - "...there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."
(both NASB)


Can we really "imagine" silence, the complete absence of sound? (Wikipedia Dictionary)


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This morning, while in the gazebo, I thought, "I wonder what that would be like - the complete absence of sound - where absolute stillness rules!" So I "foolishly" thought I'd give it a try right there! "See" what it would be like!


I had no idea "God's creation" was so noisy!!


The droning, low-throaty rattle of a bi-plane as it circled, dipping and rising over its freshly dusted crops, scrutinized every blade and leaf that was dusted. Satisfied, the plane with its droning rattle faded off into the distance as another field was surveyed to receive its share of the bug-reducing spray!


I hear a whole sanctuary of birds nestled together in the throats of two mockingbirds trying to outdo each other with the number of chirps, chips, trills, and calls they've both learned!


The breeze rearranges my hair and creates a gentle but noisy wave as the leaves of nearby trees and bushes rustle and bump into each other, all moving in the same direction.


Then the sounds of the pump, filtering the pool; gentle drops of water lightly splashing back into the fish pond; the hum of tires (louder than its engine) of a passing SUV; arguing crows, happy robins, chipping sparrows, and the buzzing wings of a bee on a mission whose course is right past my head(!) all crowd out silence! 


And I began to wonder, "Is THIS why God says to enter into a closet to pray, where it's 'quiet' and 'still' ?? "
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Matthew 6:6 - "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
(KJV) - I'm pretty sure the emphasis in this verse is about the "secret" part, but so-to-speak, wouldn't it be "ok" to just enter into your house? I wonder if it has to do with "getting the noise out and the quiet and stillness in" so that we may know God. (“Be still, and know that I am God” [Psalm 46:10]).
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So, I realized that I really do not know what it is going to be like in heaven for that solemn and momentous half hour!! And I think we really do not know what that silence is going to be like at all! - - - - - I'm praying that as you read this, you will be on the heaven-side of this silence, rather than on the earth-side!!!
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jfn - 6/30/2011