Silence costs little, if at all, but is to man priceless, second only to time. And like time, the value of silence is often unappreciated.
At night, in bed, a father quietly plans the future of his children as he is the architect of their dreams and aspirations. On the other side, the mother silently computes the budget for the next day to make both ends meet.
Art and noise seldom come together, if ever, as the former unfolds into the world. Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Amorsolo and their ilk made their masterpieces amazingly but quietly. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Longfellow and all the story and sonnet writers of all time scribed their works not amidst hubbub but at the center of solitude and tranquility.
Silence is the handmaid of science and religion. Archimedes only uttered "Eureka!" when he discovered the bouyancy principle. Inventors and scientists prefer to be alone when they strive to make new discoveries.
Similarly, it was bright and calm night when the Holy Child was born 2,008 years ago. The child grew to be a Man who meditated solitarily for forty days and forty nights. Muhammed did the same, and still, in the midst of silence.
Silence suggests peace, stillness, serenity and order. It may be the peace of death or after warring ends; the stillness of the lakes and high seas during summer, the serenity of vast ricefields in a sunny day and the order of celestial bodies on a moonlit night.
Trouble may be associated with noise: the horrifying sound of atom bombs and war weapons; the blowing, whirling noise of hurricanes, or the roaring effects of earthquakes. Such equally ghastly sounds filled the Titanic in 1912 when, after the shrill yells and screams and pitiful cries of its thousands of passengers, it went to its final destination.
Silence is indispensable to man's existence. Silent work is often work done efficiently. One who prepares for the exams with noise around him won't possibly make it. And, most of all, we've been created so silently!
It has also been said that silent prayers are more likely heard than loudly-uttered ones, and that God talks and loves us the silent way.
I do believe so. After all, the language of love, especially God's love, is that of silence.
