The Sound of Silence

December 21, 2016

The Sound of Silence

“And you, my little son,

will be called the prophet of the Most High,

because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

Luke 1:76

The day of the big football game had come. The preview show on TV was showing the teams arriving at the stadium. Ninety percent of the players had ear buds or headphones connected to an iPod or similar device. Most of the people walking or waiting at bus stops are also plugged into listening devices. There is not much silence in our world.

In Zachariah’s world, silence abounded. Not just because for nine months Zachariah could not talk, but because there were no electronic devices filling the air with sounds. There were no newspapers or other publications either. News would travel by word of mouth, and after conversations with neighbors and friends, the people were left to ponder the events of their times.

In Zachariah’s world, the people of Israel had been run over by foreigners for hundreds of years. Oppression and brutality by invading forces had become their way of life. Many of Zachariah’s countrymen, in the silence of their own thoughts, produced a harvest of hatred for both the foreigners and the leaders of their own country. Both John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth were born into a culture of angry people, but there were still sparks of an eternal hope within the people. Why else would they travel through barren wilderness to hear these two mighty men of God proclaim God’s righteousness?

We too, in this present age, are living in a culture of angry people. The approval ratings of our national leaders reach new lows each week. However, unlike Zachariah, we are not surrounded by the sounds of silence. In print and electronic mediums, we are bombarded with angry messages telling us what to think.

Zachariah’s story is inspiring me to seek the sound of silence during Advent and Christmas. Will you join me in carving out abundant time from our schedules to rest in silence? In our quiet place, away from all the distractions of our culture, let us become counter-cultural and embrace Zachariah’s faith in the ultimate victory of God.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.