There’s an old saying that reminds us silence is golden. Sometimes that is more true than you might realize. There are moments in life when keeping quiet is the best thing you can do. Silence isn’t about having nothing to say, it’s about knowing when to say something and when words will have little effect.
I’d like to challenge you all to take some silent time. Now I know that if you’re anything like me, the idea of sitting in absolute silence is unproductive and honestly terrifying. I just don’t do silence well at all. But it’s so important.
I’m currently reading a book on the power of silence. Ok so it’s not really on the power of silence but there’s a chapter devoted to silence and how essential it is. It’s not a churchy book or a book on spiritual exercises either. It’s actually a book on hostage negotiations of all things.
Some of you are probably rolling your eyes on the topic of the book but we’ll talk about that another time. The real reason I am reading this book is because it was referred by a friend when we were talking about the power of silence in sales and negotiations. You have no idea how powerful silence really is.
A former chapter in my life story was spent in the car sales world. And this is where I learned the ultimate power of silence. I won’t go into the psychology behind it or anything but silence was the difference between a car sale and a flop sale. The moments when you stay quiet, on the buying or sales side, are the moments when you win big in the car buying world.
But silence is more than just for car sales. As a matter of fact silence should be a part of all of our lives, but we’ve become so addicted to the inaudible noises in life that silence can’t even be heard or experienced. So what is the power of silence?
Think about when you were a child, or the last time someone treated you like they were a child by giving you the silent treatment. Why did the silent treatment work when you were a child? And why doesn’t it work when you’re an adult?
Silence works for children because they haven’t been trained on how to fill their minds with all sorts of noises that can distract them. This is also why it doesn’t work for you and me as adults. We’ve mastered the art of filling our lives with noise. But silence is so important.
Even though I wouldn’t want to go back and do it over again, some days I really wish the power of silence wasn’t so lost on me. I wish I could sit in a room with low lighting and empty my mind of all the distractions but it’s just not possible.
There’s a story in the bible where silence is the key player. Ok so stick with me for a second and this won’t stay super “churchy”. Throughout the Bible there’s sound. God even starts the whole creating process with the spoken word. No silent treatment there. But two times in biblical history was there a moment of silence from heaven. The first time was when Jesus was praying in the garden. He wanted to be with the Father. He wanted to have his voice heard but in that moment was silence. It was deafening. It was awful. It caused his heart to break to be sure. The second time wasn’t any better either. He was on the cross and the world was hurling insults and lies and hatred at him. He just wanted His father to be close. Instead…silence. Not a single solitary word. Silence was all he heard.
You see silence is powerful because silence is more than a noise heard or a word spoken. Silence is broken in the presence of a friend. The glance across the room from someone who cares has the power to shatter the terrifying grip of silence. Sometimes our friends and loved ones have the power to unlock our moments of silence without a singe audible word.
You see silence from audible noises is really important. And I would honestly encourage you to find moments when you can sit in still and silent spaces. But more importantly remember that you don’t always have to say something. As a matter of fact you can say far more through your presence than your words will ever be able to say. The long and short is simple. Enjoy the silence when it’s there. But know you have the power to rescue someone from silence without even saying a word.
