My nine-year-old son spent most of Wednesday curled up on the couch recovering from a stomach virus while I worked on the computer at my desk a few feet away. At some point, he got up to get a book, and when he returned he stuck a Mozart symphony in the CD player and pressed play.Music filled the room.I sighed.Why do I forget to invite music into my everyday life? How can I sit in silence with only the furnace fan blowing in the background?I think I know: I sit in silence because that is how my soul stills.The psalmist wrote, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” (Psalm 62:5, emphasis mine). I often wait in silence for God. It’s what I default to, a calming choice in a noisy world.But then I consider the fact that the psalmist would have sung these words; I ponder the irony that I hear the message “wait in silence,” through a song.Music encouraging silence.Mozart poured into the room that day, and I let it roll. Later, the song ended and I sat in silence, realizing both are good.I can still my soul to wait for God through both music and silence.How do you still your soul and wait for the Lord this Lenten season? What are your practices this week and how did you struggle and what was revealed?
This week I was frustrated. Moving about the house, doing all the chores that need to be done, I was having a silent pity party.
Why am I the only one that cleans the bathroom? Why doesn’t anyone notice the layer of dirt in the study?
Soon after my husband came home and turned on music. Within minutes, my whole mood changed. I started to enjoy (eek!) myself.
There are two things that really “still my soul” the outdoors and music. If I am restless or annoyed, I’m not getting enough of either.
Beautiful, Ann. As I sit here listening to my furnace, I also can hear birds chirping. I like that. But I’m about to start cleaning, and I think that music will bring a level of joy to that task that would otherwise be missing. So, I am going to turn on Pandora to my Andrea Bocelli channel and soar to the heights while dusting and folding laundry.
I keep writing about my own Lenten fast on days other than Saturday, but this week, I’m going to come back and link up anyway, if that’s ok! Blessings for a great week, friend!
Music does change things for me, especially when I’m working around the house as Charity noted.
But I find my greatest emotional rest visiting with a friend, curled up with a book, or walking in God’s beautiful creation.
Thank you for this series that has made me aware of my overactivity and the placement of priorities in my life.
Blessings,
Janis
I am much like you Ann – I seem to need silence to really still my heart and focus on the Lord. However, beautiful music draws me to Him too. I think He uses both in my life.
Music seems to stop my thought process, so I seldom listen to it except in church.
Don’t get me wrong, because I make my own music as I sing unto the Lord and hum away when I am happy. I love silence too. In my kitchen, there is no TV or radio to distract me while I type in my corner. I am happy that your son loves music and he has excellent taste too.
Yes! I had the same realization recently as I listened to a classical piece on NPR on the drive to work. I vowed to listen on my computer when I got to my office…but of course by the time I climbed the stairs and turned on the computer, I had long forgotten.
I love this series…I hope to link up soon with a post — I have given up multitasking for Lent, and it has opened up little restorative spaces in my everyday.
When I saw the title of this post I thought you must have been hosting my friend Jodi @ Curious Acorn today. She wrote about the same exact thing, introducing her piece with a quote from one of the devils in C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters: “Music and silence–how I detest them both!” I’ve been thinking about her piece all day, then I read yours. Music and silence–such beautiful, powerful tools for battling our demons, yes?
For Lent I am having more fun which is annoying my son and my husband. They shake their heads and walk away when they catch me dancing in the kitchen or trying to coax them into a game of twenty questions. As a result, I’m spending a lot of time alone. Listening to the furnace blowing. It’s nice. But I think I’ll go turn on some music. 🙂