silence is (not) easy

some of us laugh, some of us cry,
some of us smoke, some of us lie,
but it's all just the way that we cope with our lives.
- starsailor, “some of us”

this morning, my student teacher taught my senior class for the first time. he nervously introduced himself to the students.. then proceeded to discuss how to graph the basic trigonometric functions. after half an hour of giving illustrations and feverishly writing down notes on the board, my student teacher asked the class, “do you have any questions?” and my students’ response? silence. no shaking of heads. no nods. no questions. no frowns. no smiles. nothing but blank stares. *sigh* and i couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for my student teacher. hmm. silence from the entire class. the usually rowdy senior class, at that. tsk, tsk. that can’t be good..

that silent, blank stare from students is probably one of the worst things that could happen to me in class. noisy students, i can somewhat tolerate. even the makulit and matanong students, i can stand. but to be met with expressionless stares and “NR” (no reaction) looks.. well, that really makes me lose my composure.

i have to admit.. i hate silence, not just in the classroom, but in my daily life as well. i always have to be doing something. whether it is keeping in touch with friends, watching TV or texting. i even go to bed with my zen (my mp3 player).. ‘coz i find it hard to sleep without my music.

most of us, when faced with silence, are unnerved. silence is not easy. it can even be downright frightening. maybe because we’re not used to it. we’ve grown so accustomed to the “background noises” of life. we are so busy with our work and numerous activities. our minds are so distracted with schedules, chores, financial concerns and other worries. we surround ourselves with friends, loved ones and people we depend on for stability and security.

in the busyness of life, we find it difficult to just sit still and enjoy solitude. even in our quiet devotions, we often feel uncomfortable waiting on the Lord. we want the answer to our prayers now. and when we do not hear Him answering our petitions, we worry.. we fret.. we become impatient. we are unnerved.

brothers and sisters, if right now you cannot seem to hear the Lord’s voice.. if you are feeling impatient with His silence.. if you are starting to doubt whether He hears you or cares about your plight.. let this verse encourage you:

“be still and know that I am God..” (psalm 46:10)

He is Lord. is that not a comforting thought? :) and all we need to do is to be still before this wonderful God.. and bask in His loving presence.

it may take a bit of getting used to.. but by His grace, we will all learn to enjoy His quiet, gentle presence :)

God bless!