Listen

I was thinking about society in general, you know, how we get along with each other. I was thinking we expend a lot of energy yelling at each other. We call it being passionate about our beliefs. It has become commonplace and even expected. We emphasize our commitment to our causes by the use of crude and vulgar language, spoken loudly. Often words are spit out as violently as venom from a snake. We are demanding attention. Hear me,hear me we seem to be saying. Each of us becoming the town crier ! 

I wonder how this came to be. It wasn't always this way. There was a time in America when words were spoken in a genteel fashion. There was a time when we listened carefully to what others were saying. All too often we interrupt to interject our own thoughts. It has become a battle of volume, not content. The message is losing its' importance. It is the delivery that has taken precedence. Those that shout the loudest, win. There is an old saying about that, " the squeaky wheel gets the grease. " That statement holds a lot of truth. The squeaky wheel demands attention, and it is annoying. We grease that wheel more to silence the noise than to care for the bearing. We know the wheel should be attended to without being told, but yet we wait for that reminder. We wait to be goaded into action. Perhaps it is this very thing that is the cause of some of the problems we face today. Have we become too busy greasing the wheel to hear the message ?

When we were babies our mothers cooed to us. She did speak in a soft gentle way so as not to frighten. That voice brought calm to us when we were uncomfortable or upset. Calm is not achieved by yelling. It is true we may silence the noise but that doesn't mean we have achieved the goal. The goal is caring. The goal is to provide comfort and peace. Is that not what we all want in our lives ? We need to feel secure in our environment. When we feel threatened we tend to react. Our first reaction will be a loud cry ! If that cry goes unanswered some action takes place. We will strike out,either against an inanimate object or another person. 

We all seek peace in our own way. It is often the way we see our contemporaries attempt to do the same. We join in. Maybe that involves drinking alcohol,maybe we use drugs. We join in their causes, raising our voices in protest. We may march in protest or in support. We become loud and then take some action. Others may join the church. Then believing in the church become vocal. We begin to preach and demand action. Some will become zealots and others will lose faith. I think that no matter the choice we make to find the happiness and security we desire we do have to remember one thing. The first thing that soothed us and gave us that comfort was our mothers voice. That soft and gentle sound. We may not have understood the message, but calm was achieved. Sometimes a whisper is more powerful than a shout, the secret is that we need to listen. Shhh, be still and listen. Isn't that what mother would say ? Good advice never grows old. It is my belief that more of us need to just listen for a while. Sometimes, God just whispers.