The Sounds of Silence
“Then there was a great and powerful wind, so strong that it tore the mountain apart and shattered the rocks in pieces by the power of Yahweh— but Yahweh was not in the whirlwind. And after the wind there was an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there came a fire but Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a sound of sheer silence.” — 1 Kings 19:11b-12.
Sir Richard Attenborough is a good actor, probably best known for the part of the crazy Billionaire in the film Jurassic Park. But Attenborough is an even better film director than he is an actor.
Attenborough directed Gandhi, the film about one of the great civil rights leaders of the 20th Century, Mohandas Gandhi. The Mahatma’s methods— Mahatma means Great Spirit— the Mahatma’s methods of non-violent protest were adopted around the world and led to advances for the rights of many people in many nations.
The makers of that film biography are clear when it came to the limitations of their project. They say this in the introduction to the published screenplay (quote): “No one’s life can be encompassed in one telling.”
“There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and to try to find one’s way to the heart of the person...”
Hence, in an effort to frame the film in such a way as to help audiences understand Gandhi’s life, to places these in context, the film both opens and closes with an image of violence: the assassination of Gandhi. The film, indeed, contains a lot of violence.
I once heard Attenborough asked in an interview why a film which is essentially about non-violence might contain so much violence. The director said for him one of the paradoxes of making the film was you can’t portray non-violence without addressing violence, without showing violent acts. The contrast is essential. (Slight pause.)
To a certain extent, I find myself in the same place as Attenborough. I want to talk about silence. So I need to talk about sound, even noise.
Of this I am convinced: as humans we are, both by nature and by the nurturing Spirit of God, called to communicate. Many of us do that in more than one way. But certainly one way many people communicate is through sound.
Since I am a song writer, people sometimes ask me what my favorite type of music is. The question always puzzles me. You see, as a song writer, I say music is simply organized sound.
So for me, the deeper question needs to be ‘how is the sound we’re talking about organized? Is it organized in a way which can communicate something to me or can communicate something to someone else?’
Asking the question that way leaves me open to being able to appreciate— perhaps not fully understand or even like but to appreciate— many types and styles of music. Asking the question that way opens the possibility that communication is central, rather than my own vision which might be relatively narrow.
Indeed, Julian Treasure a musician, an author and consultant who advises businesses around the world, especially retailers and hotels, on how to use sound— Musac is what my guess he advises about— Treasure says each of us comes to the table with filters. And these filters block communication.
Among the filters he lists are culture, language, values, beliefs, attitudes, expectations and intentions. And both those who are trying to communicate and those with whom are trying to communicate come to the table with a set of filters. Further, it’s likely each person coming to the table brings a very different set of judgments about those filters.
That, I think, brings me to the key point about sound: sound is not about noise. Sound is about listening and listening carefully, trying to cancel out inappropriate filters.
Those who study these things tell us we actually listen 60% of the time. On the other hand, we retain only 25% of what we hear. And we retain that 25% only when we concentrate really, really hard on just listening. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as First Kings: “...after the fire there was a sound of sheer... silence.” (Slight pause.)
Question: is God still speaking? (Slight pause.) That’s what our denomination claims— God is still speaking. (Slight pause.) How do we know, especially if we retain only 25% of what we hear even when we concentrate?
Indeed, in the words of Paul Simon does it not often seem that in our era we have (quote): “People talking without speaking” and we have (quote): “People hearing without listening”? [1] (Slight pause.)
And again, let’s ask questions: if God is still speaking, through whom does God speak? And are we listening? (Slight pause.)
A couple of weeks ago my friend Tom Rasely, who you just heard a little earlier, led the service and offered these words of wisdom from Mark Twain (quote): “The right word may be effective, but no word is ever as effective as a well-timed... pause.”
Tom then went on to say that, as a musician, he is very aware of pauses. In music you can have a series of notes, sounds, interrupted by what are referred to as ‘rests.’ Rests are silences that give a musician, as well as the listener, time to pause and
reflect on what has happened, time to consider, time to prepare for what will happen next.
Indeed, Tom tells students sometimes what you don’t play can make what you do play sound even better. But still, silence can be unsettling. When we hear nothing, especially for long periods of time, it can be unnerving. (Long pause— about 35 seconds.) See?
And then we have Peter— Peter in a boat on the lake. Peter who really, really listened when Christ said “Come.” What was Peter’s problem?
Why did Peter start to sink? Did Peter stop listening? Or was Peter simply distracted by noise of the wind? (Quote): “Peter noticed how strong the wind was, became frightened and, beginning to sink,...” (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest that Peter had a deeper problem than noise. You see, Peter was doing just fine until noise other than the voice of Jesus got in the way.
And when other noise got in the way, it was not that Peter stopped hearing. The voice of Jesus was still there.
Peter stopped trusting. Was Peter distracted? Probably. But I think trust is what helps us concentrate really, really hard on what’s really, really important.
Therefore, I do want to suggest God does speak in the silence. And God does speak with many voices. God speaks in the voices of the loving spirits those around us. God speaks in the voices of members of the community of faith.
God does speak, especially when we trust God. And that leaves us with an obvious question: where and when does God not speak? (Slight pause.)
God does not speak through the noise known as injustice. Is something fair and beneficial to all concerned? [2] If it is not fair and beneficial to all, the sound we hear is the sound of injustice. When we see and when we hear the sound of injustice, we know God is not speaking. (Slight pause.)
God does not speak through the noise known as violence. God does not speak in the violence known as oppression— economic oppression, physical oppression, cultural oppression, the kind of violence which sets people apart as being different or strange or simply unacceptable. When we hear and when we see the sound of violence, we know God is not speaking.
So, it seems to me our job, our goal is to listen for God because God does speak. And in order to hear God speak, we need to concentrate really, really hard.
In many ways that is what Gandhi did. He filtered out the noise of injustice and the noise of violence.
And I believe the best way to filter out the noise of injustice and violence is to trust God. (Slight pause.) Is God still speaking?
Yes. I believe God is still speaking. So, that leaves a final question: do we trust God to the point where we listen hard enough to filter out the noise of violence and the noise of injustice and really hear both that God is still speaking. And really hear what God is saying. Indeed, can we hear what God says even in the silence? Amen.
08/07/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The last words of Paul Simon’s The Sounds of Silence are these (quote): ‘The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls— And tenement halls— And whispered in the sounds of silence.’ I know Paul is Jewish, but I don’t know if he is a Hebrew scholar also. I do know that, whereas in English we think of words as being solid and having a set meaning, in Hebrew, words change meanings as you hear them and have multiple meanings. What we translate as ‘sheer silence’ can also be translated as ‘whisper,’— whispered silence— and there’s Paul Simon: whispered in the sounds of silence. Indeed, Elijah hears that whispered silence and so stands at the mouth of the cave and listens for God. Listening for God is, I think, the key.”
BENEDICTION: We are called to care in a world which can be uncaring, commissioned as lovers among some who may offer back indifference. Know this: God is with us in all our days. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] The “Special Music” at this service was The Sounds of Silence sung by Tom Rasely.
[2] Two tests combined into one of the Four Way Test practiced by Rotarians.
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