How To Hear & Respond To The Voice Of Silence

‘God’s one and only voice is silence.’Herman Melville

Yesterday I took myself outside to the back of my house, which overlooks the beautiful Australian bush, and was met by two colorful lorikeets.

As I sat down and simply outstretched my hand in front of me, they both hopped within touching distance.

The brilliance of their colours, the perfection of their feathers, the inquisitiveness of their eyes, the smoothness of their beaks, their confidence combined with their tentativeness, near this human, transfixed the three of us for what seemed hours. Yet only moments passed.

There was little noise – only a sense of seeking to understand. Before I knew it they both, for no explainable reason, took flight.

In the silence I had heard a voice – the voice of God.

Nature’s Expression Of The Voice

For the past month my wife and I have left our home, one day a week, to explore the natural beauty of many of the National Parks that are within short driving distance from where we live on the Gold Coast.

Here we have met the giants of the rainforest – trees that are more than one thousand years old. We have marveled at the waterfalls, the cavernous caves, the commanding cliffs, the bubbling brooks, the diversity of birdsong, the whisper of the wind through the canopy above, the occasional sighting of mammals in the undergrowth, and of course the piercing silence – free from any invasive human originated noise.

Whenever we pause to listen, it feels as if we have touched the very presence of God himself.

Peace reigns. Love abounds. Joy rises. Shackles fall, and fresh hope appears.

Love’s Expression Of The Voice

One of the abiding features of true friendship is demonstrated between the woman I have loved since I was twenty years of age and myself.

It is this.

Both my wife and I can at times sit in each other’s presence, not saying a single word, and yet there is no discomfort or awkwardness. We are comfortable in each other’s presence.

Oh sure there is a time and a place when we both talk incessantly and passionately one with another – and yet – the special times are often felt when not one word is uttered. There is complete silence.

Herein lie understanding, trust, and an expression of true friendship.

There is no need for performance. No need to impress. No need to fill the gap called silence with words. For as someone once said – that it is in fact the silence between notes that makes music so beautiful.

In fact, we find ourselves in the presence of God’s voice.

Life’s Expression Of The Voice

So into the daily affairs of life I endeavor to take that silence with me.

How is that voice expressed?

Well here are just a few ways that I apply that silence to my everyday living…

• I rise early (usually woken by a flock of friendly kookaburras) and move into a state of silence that includes studying wisdom literature, praying, journaling and meditating – listening to my inner voice and to the heart of God.
• When facing the challenges of the day I seek to stand back from them and respond from a standpoint of peace rather than a position of tense emotion.
• I control my day by having ready – and in place the day before – a written 6-point prioritized plan for the day ahead.
• I endeavor to keep my mornings free for creativity, because that is when I am at my freshest, and I am at peace.
• Any meetings are generally scheduled for the afternoon.
• I collect all phone calls and return or respond to them in a batch of calls or delegate to those in my team who can better and more ably attend to the details.
• I spend a portion of my day to study something new.
• I choose to live my life in a state of order and in a state of peace.
• I go to bed early.