Have you stopped to consider the beauty, agony, and pain, depicted in our world without the presence of sound? Silence speaks in a variety of tones, a whisper barely audible to the listener is easily recognized. Whispers of silence may become audible the first time you watch a sunrise alone. The beauty of an awakening day may unleash the whispering silence. Should you contemplate the newness and wonders of a fresh falling snow, your solitude shares the eloquent whispers of the voice of silence. These moments can overflow with beauty, reverence, and tranquillity as you enjoy the invigorating murmurs of silence.
Time, place, and activity, affect silence in many ways. Consider how the mood and voice vary as a wrong or inappropriate answer is met with silence in a classroom setting. An awkward readjusting pause occurs as the instructor - faced with an unexpected answer - guides the class back to its intended course. During this fleeting moment of silence the student often experiences embarrassment, humiliation, and even reprimand.
Silence frequently speaks through solitude, loneliness, or isolation in a very subtle way. Sometime the language is soft - a gentle urging - tugging at our emotions and occasionally can reach a crescendo demanding our attention. When circumstances or events stagger our ability to comprehend or reason, we are often besieged with silence.
The internal battle for understanding, control, and our inability to change current circumstances adds volume to the voice. Silence sometimes casts recriminations, doubts, uneasy feelings, and often anger. Look at the helplessly unemployed parent. "I'm willing to work, why can't I find a job"? When reason escapes our logic, silence speaks.
Couples young and old possess the ability to express emotion silently by gazing into each others eyes. Promises, wonders, and love are voiced without sound. Momentary glances often reveal desires, hurts, anger, or even hatred. Silence is never silent when a couple finally realizes the utter impossibility of conciliation. When people are unable to compromise a misunderstanding, silence speaks louder than an accomplished orator.
Happiness and joy are often celebrated with laughter and noise but the quiet, haunting voice of silence can be harsh. Anyone who has ever sought futilely for answers to overwhelming problems understands that silence employs an extensive vocabulary. Here you may find the homeless, elderly without family, or young people struggling to find elusive answers. "Does anyone care"? For someone alone and without friends - silence can be a dreadful enemy - creating apprehension and fear.
Surely the voice of silence speaks loudest through human discomfort, loneliness, and pain. The silence urgently desires to be noticed - answered by anyone - while wishing to remain anonymous. Diminished self esteem or feelings of inadequacy often prevent distressed people from revealing the cause. Occasionally, a false sense of pride intervenes to assure the silence will pass unnoticed
Silence can speak with beauty, reverence, and dignity. Have you ever seen young people suppress strong wants because they know that their parents can't afford to purchase a special item. A very special glimpse of nobility can be observed in the actions of a child when they sacrifice their desires silently for love of a parent or grandparent.
Perhaps we possess an internal reflex to shy away from the terrible sounds produced by silence especially in instances where a tragedy has befallen someone and we don't know how to respond. Serious illnesses, broken dreams, divorces, or an unexpected deaths, sometimes steals comforting speech when it is most needed.
Silence reverberates in a thousand different tones from people in our community asking - no pleading - does anyone hear? We may become accustomed to - or simply don't care about - the message it carries. Sometimes we may not be able to help or even know how to respond but the voice remains.
The unmistakable times when we use silence to convey special messages like "you are gorgeous" or "thank you" are well known to the sender and receiver. Other messages may be harder to understand but they are rendered oftentimes in desperation. Silence is never silent when we are unable to deal with its rhetoric. A German proverb reminds us that ". . . silence is golden" but in the vast areas of human emotions where we feel and experience beauty, joy, and awe, silence refuses to be silent. When we are embarrassed, incapable, or inadequate, silence speaks. Through deep pain, loneliness, and sorrow, silence conveys our emotions far beyond the limits of a spoken language.