The Sound of Silence
Years ago, Paul Simon
wrote a song called “The Sound of Silence”.
In fact, it was just a couple of years after I was born. But until recently, the words didn’t come
alive to me. This song seems prophetic
in many ways to our society.
Now that I see it that
way I cannot hear it enough. It’s as if
God has opened this song up to me, unlocking it some how for me to
understand. I’m going to share what I
hear in it, in hopes that we all get the same message from it. Because after hearing the words through what
God has revealed, I cannot be silent.
Hello darkness, my old
friend
Darkness, absence of
light, Christ being the “light of the world”
I've come to talk with you again
Speaking to the darkness, the evil of the world.
Because a vision softly
creeping
Softly creeping, quietly
sneaking in
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
We sleep with our eyes wide open, ignoring what goes on around us
And the vision that was
planted in my brain
Then we awake one day to
see the world around us as it is
Still remains
Still remains
And just as this won’t
shake from my head when I hear the song, it remains.
Within the sound of silence
And I stayed silent about
it for weeks now. I stayed silent. Muzzled
by fear of what? Being told I was ridiculous, out of my head, a “crazy Christian”.
In restless dreams I
walked alone
The vision began by being
alone, walking in the night, the evil of darkness
Narrow streets of cobblestone
Streets that were old,
had been paths for many others who remained silent
'Neath the halo of a
street lamp
A street lamp that seemed
to provide some light, if only in one place.
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
No one wants to see the
sin and evil, we turn up our collars to not feel it.
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
Stabbed – you can’t get
away from the pain. Neon light. Commerce, business, the things we strive for
without even knowing why.
That split the night
Wide open we are now, not
asleep.
And touched the sound of
silence
Yet no one was heard. Not a word.
And in the naked light I
saw
Naked light, revealing all we don’t want to see.
Naked light, revealing all we don’t want to see.
Ten thousand people,
maybe more
Humanity, all in one place
People talking without speaking
Expressions on the faces
as we look at each other with every look except love.
Words from t-shirt
slogans, tattoos, and even facebook posts that we judge by.
People hearing without listening
We hear what we want to hear, see what we want to see, and dismiss the rest.
People writing songs that
voices never share
We never share what is on
our hearts, our songs, because…
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools" said I,
"You do not know
God finally speaks, and calls
us all fools
Silence like a cancer grows
Silence like a cancer grows
The more one of us is
silent, the harder it is for any to not be silent
Hear my words that I might teach you
Hear my words that I might teach you
We don’t want to hear him
that we’d be wiser. We’re content to be
silent and not truly live lives that can matter.
Take my arms that I might
reach you"
With all He has, He tries
to reach us with outstretched arms.
But my words like silent raindrops fell
His words are given
daily, written for all to have and all to know.
He’s open to communication through prayer, but…
And echoed in the wells
of silence
It goes unheard because
Christians like myself are “wells of silence” where those drops of rain fall,
and lay silent.
And the people bowed and
prayed
We all pray to someone or
something. But often our prayers to God
are not about what matters to Him but about what matters to us. We fail to even speak of His will, and ask
for that change in our lives that cause us to truly LIVE.
To the neon god they made
We pray about the things
that are neon, not real light, but artificial.
Not God, but worshipped as if they were real.
And the sign flashed out
its warning
In the words that it was
forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
Graffiti often spells
names of those that want to be heard, want to be known. They spell out a need to be loved. They spell out slogans and phrases that we
use to try to be socially accepted. They
spell out loneliness. They spell out a
lack of hope due to a lack of faith.
And whispered in the sounds of silence
…and still we remain silent.
God bless you all, be with you all, and show you His unfailing love.
Love One Another.
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