In our world today it seems that there is constant sound. We have such a hard time being silent and just sitting quietly in the presence of God. Even a moment of silence and we seem compelled to fill it up with some type of noise. You can hear it in many public speakers who fill every moment of their presentation with “ums” and “aahs” rather than pause for even a few seconds to think about what they will say next. You can see it in our young people who walk around with headphones in their ears listening to something, anything, from their iPods rather than listen to silence.
But silence truly is, as the saying goes, golden. It is not something to be feared, avoided, or filled with noise. Silence is heavenly and divine.
Silence
There is a time for everything under heaven
A time to be silent and a time to speak
As a sheep being sheared is silent, Jesus remained silent
There is a time for everything under heaven
He was oppressed and afflicted, crushed for our iniquity
Yet he did not open his mouth, Jesus gave no answer
There is a time for everything under heaven
A time to be silent and a time to speak
There was silence in heaven for about half an hour
When the Lamb of God opened the seventh seal
As incense and prayers of the saints rose to the Lord
There was silence in heaven for about half an hour
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent
Be silent, for the day of the Sovereign LORD is near
There was silence in heaven for about half an hour
When the Lamb of God opened the seventh seal
Note: This double triolet is also a “found” poem as it all comes from God’s Word. The verse that inspired this poem is Revelation 8:1 – “When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” It occurred to me that if heaven can remain silent for half an hour, perhaps silence truly is a good thing.
I also wrote this poem for Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub. Find a quiet place and check out the other poems offered there.