What if I told you that there is a simple way to hear God talking to you? You would be pretty interested and intrigued, right? What if I told you the secret is silence? Notice I said “simple” and not “easy”.
If we would all shush every now and then, we just might hear God speaking to us.
Why, oh why, is this easier said than done?
There is even a song called “Silence is Golden,” although it’s never really been in my top five.
Many of us seem to have a need for constant wall-to-wall sound.
In the late 1800s, the phonograph started to meet that demand, but it was hard to cover a whole day 78 rpms at a time.
Radio helped fill more of that demand, but people in the 30s and 40s could only listen to so many afternoon soapy serials and late-night live dance bands from this ballroom or that, so the device could be turned off.
Television in the 50s, 60s, and 70s filled more silence over the air every day until the national anthem was played after midnight, then the channel would go back to silence and a test pattern. The infomercial and cable TV fixed that problem and created 24-hour noise.
Then came the online world, followed by personal devices, and we have no reason to live in silence ever again.
I’m not going to go as far as to say that the need for life-filling noise is diabolical but it certainly does take us away from the voice of God.
I’m typing this of course with headphones in my ears.
I’m part of the problem.
(OK, fine, I just took them out.)
What we’re missing
We can easily make excuses that we’re constantly listening to things, or at least having something on in the background, because we can find God in all things.
True, but it may be better to find God in prayer versus a podcast, streaming music service, or 24-hour news channel.
Ah, but there are good Catholic podcasts, music, and 24-hour programming channels. I’m aware. They can be very inspirational and helpful.
Eventually, however, you have to press the off button and listen for His voice.
God is trying to talk to us every day.
God wants us to listen to Him every day.
It may hurt too much to think about how much we missed by not giving Him our full attention.
If during Mass is the only time we are listening to the voice of God (and perhaps very weakly at that), we’re only getting a small fraction of His love for us.
What an incredibly great but unused gift that we’ve been given.
Every day, we could be getting guidance, answers, inspirations, or even miracles, but we don’t hear it. We don’t listen.
It’s not even just the aural barriers.
How much are our eyes keeping us from listening?
We scroll on this social media feed. We watch this cat video. We listen to this Taylor Swift song (well, I don’t, but a lot of people do).
Even moreso, how much does our own talking (or texting and such) get in the way of hearing His voice?
When I worked in TV, we had a saying called “filling the black” or programming enough content so as not to have dead air or “black” on the air.
We, in our own lives, are our own TV producers. We are always filling the black. We cannot fathom or live with dead air.
An exercise.
I know every time I do something like this, it freaks people out so why not do it again?
Now. Right now. Pause and be still and silent. See how long you can last.
Oh no no, we’re not done yet. We can be more silent. Let’s do some prayer also. Let’s try to hear God’s voice.
What are we listening for
Most people don’t actually hear a voice a la Moses at the Burning Bush in The Ten Commandments.
You might not even know you are listening but you may just feel something on your heart.
It might be a clear direction, it might be a feeling of love or joy or peace or calm, or it might feel like your eyes have been opened.
God has a message for each of us that he delivers right to our hearts.
Even if we don’t hear everything, let’s get in the habit on practice of being still and silent for Him.
Our “step one” can just be saying to Him, “Speak Lord, for I am listening”.
Let’s promise ourselves not to get frustrated if we cannot stay silent for long or if we do not hear anything in the immediate.
Some of us have gone most of our lives with constant noise and distraction.
Converting ourselves into people of sacred silence will take some time, but there is no time like the present.
Be confident and joyful in the fact that He wants you to be silent for His voice.
It’s His will that you hear Him.
With a little trust, time, and love, you’ll get to where He wants you to be.
Shhhhhhhh . . .
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.