What is spoken in the air loudly may fail to make sense but not the silence aptly used at the right moment.
ROSHAN LOBO OFM
Many of the things in nature happen in silence. The natural world functions harmoniously without making much noise. The beautiful docuseries titled Our Planet narrated by David Attenborough, the famous British natural historian amazed me. It showcased the splendid beauty of habitat in our planet from the frozen world of Antarctica to the lush green lands of North America relying on each other for their survival and how climate change is adversely impacting this very survival. Throughout the documentary, the different episodes bring out the silent functioning of these habitats and this functioning is very vital for the sustenance of our planet. Many living species barring us function silently and harmoniously, contributing to the betterment of each other. For instance, ants march in silence gathering things to build their hills or big predators move in silence to grab their prey. In contrast, we love the noise. Without clatter and clamour, we can’t imagine our life. Ludwig Wittgenstein noted that “without a border, there would be no world. There would also be no world without silence.” In a world engrossed in noisy affairs, silence and quietness scare. The greatest challenge for someone so used to keeping busy and noisy is how to remain silent for a minute. In paying homage to the departed bigwigs, it’s a usual practice to maintain a minute’s silence. But how hard even that is. Someone can shut my mouth or I can refrain from speaking and be able to observe external silence but who will be able to slow down the flow of thoughts in my mind? Seen that way, the complete silence of a whole human person is a very hard task. We love talking and chattering. Words uttered in the air bring out sound and if I rattle around with words it becomes noise. Silence is the absence of words, sound and noise. The very absence of something is deprivation. Something is meant to ‘be there’ but it is ‘not there’. In silence, sound or noise is deprived of its opportunity ‘to be there’. The absence of something indicates weakness. Does the absence of sound or noise in silence indicate that it is weak? Is silence weak? Silence is powerful because at times it can speak in volumes and convey the depth of words without being uttered. What is spoken in the air loudly may fail to make sense but not the silence aptly used at the right moment. Silence at an appropriate moment, with appropriate people and for an appropriate purpose can be a powerful medium of communication. Silence in such sense communicates something very meaningful which words fail to convey. This year marks the 150th anniversary of declaring St. Joseph as the patron saint of the Universal Church. Hence, Pope Francis has dedicated this year to St. Joseph. The silence of St. Joseph is worthy of admiration. He was not in the limelight but a man of silence and his silent work accomplished many things in God’s plan of salvation. He was careful not to steal the limelight from Jesus. To remain as the centre of attraction, people go to any extent. If we bombard people’s minds with ideas and can make an opinion out of every trivial issue, we are counted genius. Without being in the limelight a lot of work can be accomplished in silence. During the pandemic, a lot of frontline workers have slogged tirelessly and more importantly ‘silently’ for others without wishing to be at the limelight. There is nothing uttered much about them. Some of them were recognised but many of them remained hidden and unnoticed. Yet their hard work brought tremendous success. Their silence and dedication were the key indicators of their hard work. Silence is powerful because it is the medium in which divinity is experienced. How to understand a great mystery like God? Prophet Elijah experienced the presence of mighty God in the sound of sheer silence. Silence becomes the answer to many of life’s questions. The constant search for the great existential questions of life makes me a seeker, questioning the very answers that I find in search of such questions makes me a reasoning person but maintaining silence by accepting my inability to probe deeper into the mysteries of life that baffle human mind make me truly an enlightened soul. Silence was and is found to be a conducive solution to life’s mysterious ‘Bermuda Triangles’. Today there are concerted efforts to silence the voice of people who speak against injustice and atrocities of the ‘privileged’. But what if by causing “silence” within myself I make myself deaf to those sounds that I’m to hear “there”, asks HenrykElzenberg. That’s precisely what the privileged ones do by remaining deaf to the sounds that are meant to be heard. Neither they speak nor let others speak. This kind of silence is uncalled for. But maintaining a healthy silence is important for anyone in a noisy world of ours. The ability to speak when needed and remain silent when situation demand is a challenge. Knowing when to be silent and when not is a sign of wisdom. If I remain silent when I am supposed to speak and if I speak when I am supposed to be silent, the very purpose of speech and silence is defeated. It is better to be silent when I do not know how to respond to a situation that overwhelms me than speak. Ludwig Wittgenstein was right when he said “Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent” because silence is golden. ∎
