The sound of silence

A movie trailer advertised on Facebook a new movie coming out in November about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was killed by Hitler toward the end of WWII. His best book was “The Cost of Discipleship".

Our plans are to attend the movie but what caught my attention was the music in the movie trailer, “The Sound of Silence” written by Paul Simon. Simon wrote the song in his bathroom where he turned the lights off and played his guitar in the dark. He said at one time, “The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run (I like that sound, it's very soothing to me) and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again.'”

As I listened to the music and especially the words, it brought back memories of growing up in the Sandhills of Nebraska. In high school I’d borrow the telescope from the science lab and sit out at night and gaze at the moon and the stars. It wasn’t a real powerful telescope, but it was a lot better than Dad’s binoculars. The nights were dark and so quiet you could hear mostly “nothing”. Silence! At times you could hear the coyotes howling or Darwin and Shirley’s dog barking which was a couple miles away. There were no trains or vehicles or neighbors visiting or just the noise from a crowded neighborhood. “The Sound of Silence!”

At certain times of the year, ranchers would wean their calves off the cows so the calves would be bawling at the cows and vice versa. They bawled day and night for several days. Usually in the spring or the fall, you could walk outdoors at night and hear flights of geese flying north or south depending on the time of the year. In the daytime, you could gaze till you located them. Sometimes you could hear a bird singing its melody like a Meadow Lark or you could hear the “Whoop” of a Night Hawk. If there was a breeze, you could hear the wind stirring the branches of the Chinese Elms or the Cottonwoods or even some pine trees. Maybe a cricket now and then.

I spent many a day on horseback listening to the saddle leather rub against itself or the sound of the horses’ hooves as you moved along or the horse’s breathing. When you came to a windmill, you could hear the well pumping water and the horses drinking. But when it came right down to it, there was “silence.” Some have come to the Sandhills and left because they couldn’t stand the solitary lifestyle, but some left because of the silence.

For some this “silence” is more than they can take so they fill their world with a TV or radio or whatever. Today, we can wear devices that allow us to hear “whatever” 24 hours a day whether we are still or on the move. We can literally have something to listen to 24 hours a day. At times we drowned out sounds with even more sound. One time we went to a popular restaurant in a town close to us and the pianist played honky tonk music. We found ourselves shoveling down food to the beat of the music.

According to Healthline, there are numerous benefits to experiencing “silence”. Silence may help lower one's blood pressure, improve concentration and focus, calm racing thoughts, stimulate brain growth, reduce cortisol, stimulate creativity, improve insomnia and encourage mindfulness. What I find by creating a silent environment is my mind can create solutions to problems or situations, ponder on things I’ve read or experienced, allow images of past or distant friends to come to mind and on and on.

But the greatest benefit for me to creating silence is the ability to listen and hear God speak to me.

Just me,

Rennie

Phillips began life as a cowboy, then husband and father, carpenter, a minister, gardener and writer. He may be reached at phillipsrb@hotmail.com.